Life's Great Lie
by shakespeareinthepark
Summary: When Loki fell from Asgard, he was searching for freedom. What he found when he landed in Midgard was something a little different and a lot more interesting. However, things always seem to go drastically wrong for him. Loki/Darcy. Takes place after Thor and will go through The Avengers. Rated M for language, violence, and sexual content.
1. Chapter 1

"Make sure you turn it on when you place it."

"I'm not dense, Jane."

"And… and don't forget to calibrate it."

"I know, Jane."

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?"

"Jane," Darcy Lewis closed the back door to the van that she had just finished packing up and turned to face her friend, "It's fine. Go take a nap or something. You really need it."

"I know," Jane admitted, "but this is really important."

"I know it's important, and I know how to do it. Just go sleep." Darcy walked around the car and hopped up into the driver's seat. Jane crossed her arms angrily as she started up the car.

"I'll be back in like two hours. You better be asleep when I get back." Darcy called back through the open window.

"Yeah, yeah. Just go," Jane said bitterly.

With that, Darcy pulled out of the garage/lab and out onto the main road of Puente Antiguo and headed out into the New Mexico desert.

The beginning of her journey consisted of a fairly major detour; just a few days before, the hot crazy homeless guy that Darcy had tasered turned out to be some kind of god and had a big fight that destroyed the main stretch of town. Half the town had been left homeless or unemployed, but that shifty government group that had stolen all of their equipment had compensated everybody affected. It was nice of them, but Darcy was still a little suspicious. That Coulson dude had been a little too underwhelmed when he found out Thor was who he was.

Speaking of Mr. Hot-Crazy-Homeless Guy, he was the reason she was heading out into the desert at ten o'clock at night with assorted science equipment. Jane had gotten a little frisky with him, or at least wished she had, and now their new mission was to find a way to reopen the Einstein-Rosen Bridge to his neck of the woods. It was crazytown, but that's life. As of three days ago, this was her job, paid for entirely by earlier mentioned shady government group SHIELD. Darcy had all but dropped out of college at this point; what good was a degree in political science when one already had a high-paying career as an astrophysicist/god-searcher?

Another thing fairly new in her life was the fact that one of her employers/friends had left town with SHIELD. Erik Selvig, the scientist who had been working with Jane Foster, had gone to New York to visit a friend of his, and then would have a full-time job with SHIELD once his security checked out. Apparently working for SHIELD as more than a consultant required like nine months of background checks and that sort of thing. A little obsessive, but they were a security organization after all.

Jane was lucky. Kind of. She had found herself a man who really liked her, maybe even loved her. Thor seemed like the faithful type. However, she'd only known him for like five days and then he had to go off to fight his brother or something like that. _Putting family first. What a douche._

When Darcy reached the site, she couldn't help noticing the weather. Perfectly clear, just like it had been since Thor had left. Jane had been hoping for a storm ever since the clouds first cleared, but no dice.

Darcy slowed the van down and moved to turn off the radio, but as soon as her eyes glanced down, she felt and heard a loud _thud_. As her eyes jerked back to the road and her foot slammed on the break, she had just enough time to see something being thrown away from the car.

"Oh my god!" Darcy exclaimed, attempting to regain her bearings. As the dust around the van cleared, she grabbed her taser from her bag just in case and hopped out of the car.

The thing she had appeared to hit (there was nothing else around) was laying ten feet away from the car. Her stomach fell when she saw it was a person.

"Not again," she muttered as she ran over to the person, who appeared to be a man. _I should probably retake my driver's test, as much as I've been hitting people recently. Although, the first time was totally Jane's fault._

"Hey buddy, are you alright? I totally didn't hit you… legally. Well, that's up to debate. We can talk later." Upon further inspection, she noticed he was kind of really still. "Dude, are you even alive?"

The guy, a very attractive man who had the tall, dark, and handsome thing going on, was definitely breathing. He was dressed kind of like how Thor had been when they first found him, except instead of red under the collar this guy had green.

Darcy bent down to get a closer look. She reached out to him hesitantly. When she made contact with his arms, he snapped awake and sprung away from her, causing her to fall backward on her ass. When she looked up at him, he was leaning up and staring at her with wide eyes, his arm up, almost as if he were ready to cover his face from something.

"Where am I, mortal? I command you to tell me where this is."

"Mortal? That's no way to attract the ladies, dude. Not that you'd really need to try. Just saying, you're pretty smokin'. But this is New Mexico. Are you like an illegal immigrant or something?" She would play dumb about Thor's people until she knew this guy was from there. The last thing she needed was this guy thinking she was nuts, talking about gods and warriors and the like.

"I am of Asgard," he said passively, standing up. He began walking around and looking up at the sky. Darcy stood as well and began following him around, looking up at whatever he was looking at. _He was obviously from Asgard; he just got thrown ten feet from being hit by a car, and now he's walking around. He's either from Asgard or on some serious drugs._

"Asgard? Like Thor? Oh god, are you Thor? Did your weird brother dude morph you into like a super-hot Snape?"

"I am Thor's _weird brother dude_," the man spat. "And I do not understand why you keep referencing descriptions of temperature."

"What? Oh, yeah. Hot and smoking are complements. It means you're attractive and physically desirable. I don't know why I'm saying this to you or calling you hot, though. Over-sharing I guess. I tend do that. Rambling as well. Also: you're Thor's brother, Loki, right?"

"I thought I was," Loki muttered bitterly.

"So you sent that thing that destroyed the town?" she asked blankly, ignoring his comment.

Loki's expression almost looked pained. "Yes." He paused. "It was… necessary."

"Hmm. I bet it was. It was severely not cool, but I guess you had your reasons. None of my business."

Loki cocked an eyebrow. "I destroyed part of your realm, threatening your life, and you say it is 'none of your business?'"

"You were just having a little domestic issue with your brother. It's understandable. If Thor were my brother, I'd probably have some fights with him too. Dude's nice, but he seems a little thick."

"You would not be wrong," Loki actually smiled. "Are you not frightened?"

"Should I be?" she asked.

"I am not of your realm."

"Neither was Thor. Neither were those four weirdos who were here earlier. You're nothing new," Loki looked somewhat amused with her at this point, and that did not get past her. "So," Darcy walked over to the back of the van. "Will you help me with this?"

"Excuse me?"

"I said, will you help me with this? It's heavy and I was going to have to move it by myself and now I don't have to."

Darcy watched as Loki walked unsurely over to her and peered inside the vehicle. The instrument was about three feet in height and was about as heavy as Darcy herself was. Pushing past her, Loki easily picked it up and turned to face her.

"Does its specific placement matter?"

"Anywhere's fine."

Loki took a few steps back and lightly put the equipment down.

"What is its purpose?" he asked, looking curious.

"Well, it's to read something," she announced proudly as she got to work calibrating it.

"To read something." Loki repeated dryly. "Anything specific, or just whatever passes by?"

"Well, I'm not too in to the specifics of the science portion of the job. That's what Jane and Erik do. Well, what Jane does and Erik did. He left. But Jane's still around. Sorry, over-sharing again."

"Jane?" he asked suddenly, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, Jane. She's much better at the physics and whatnot. I only took the job because someone told me that it was a _Jack_ Foster that led this and that he's really hot but then it turned out to be Jane and she's a foxy lady but I don't swing that way. Nothing wrong at all with those who do, but that's just not me—"

Loki had stopped listening early on into her ramblings, and she could see that. She drifted off and eventually just looked at him, biting her lip. He was contemplating something, something that was obviously difficult for him.

"So, can I give you a ride into town? Do you have any kind of plan for what you're going to do here?"

"What is your name?" Loki asked suddenly, looking at her as if he just saw her.

"Darcy," she said somewhat proudly.

"Darcy? That is an odd name."

"Says _Loki_," she scoffed, crossing her arms. "There's no way 'Darcy' is weirder than 'Loki.'"

"Touché," Loki said, smiling again. His smile was kind of creepy in a beautiful way, if that made any sense. His Cheshire cat grin didn't make it to his eyes, though; Darcy noted that he had a lost puppy look going on, somewhat breaking her heart. Something bad had just happened to him. _Well, he's the bad guy. That's good. Wait— he's the bad guy. I'm in the middle of nowhere with a guy who pretty much just tried to kill me and the entire town. This isn't frightening me as it probably should be._

"Well, I think I'm gonna get going," she said, backing away from him toward the driver's side of the van.

"Is your generous offer still up?" he asked, smiling politely now.

Darcy bit her lip. "Yeah, sure. What the hell."

* * *

"_No, Loki."_

That's all it had taken his father to say to let Loki know he had failed.

His brother had yelled something after that, but it was not of consequence to him. All of Loki's efforts and attempts to prove himself a worthy son to the Allfather had been shot down with just two simple words.

The immense suffocation of the moment had overwhelmed him to say the least. Loki was always so talented with words. _Silvertongue_, they called him. His father had silenced with two words.

It had not been death that Loki had been looking for when he let go of the staff his brother was holding; it had been freedom. Whatever form it took, Loki would embrace it with open arms. Anything to not face the shame he felt when he looked at his father, the guilt that would destroy him if he were to see his mother, or the jealousy that still burned when he looked into Thor's eyes, even as they hung from the bridge.

Loki had fallen for what seemed like eternity until he could bear it no longer. Though his powers and abilities were great, it would be difficult transporting himself somewhere without any resources and while he was moving so quickly through space. It would leave him weak and unable to use magic, but that wasn't important to him. He didn't care if he ended up in a volcano in Muspelheim or in front of an enraged crowd of the dark elves of Svartalfheim; he just needed to stop falling. He told himself to transport somewhere, _anywhere_ in the Nine Realms. At the last second, though, he had thought of Thor and his banishment, and now Loki found himself at the exact location Thor had found himself when he fell after being banished: a fairly pleasant location in Midgard, the mortal realm.

Loki hadn't even had enough time to take in his surroundings before a large metal machine struck him with great force and sent him flying back, skidding across the ground on his back.


	2. Chapter 2

Loki lay on the ground stock still, mostly out of shock. His eyes were still closed, but he could hear someone running over toward him. This person approached him slowly, almost fearfully, and just as he felt their hand lightly lay on his arm, he jumped and moved away from the person, freezing in a defensive position.

Now sitting a few feet away, the two of them got a good look at each other. The person who had approached Loki was a woman, and a fairly beautiful woman at that. She seemed more curious than scared of the situation. He could fix that.

"Where am I, mortal?" Loki snarled. "I command you to tell me where this is."

This woman seemed to be taking none of that today. Instead of an answer, he got some unintelligible rambling but vaguely heard something about him being an immigrant.

"I am of Asgard," he bitterly stated. Standing, he looked up at the sky. He was in Midgard by the looks of it.

So, when he had thought of Thor and his banishment here, he had accidentally sent himself here. He had used most of his magic to strand himself in the same place Thor had been sentenced to. _How poetic,_ Loki thought.

His conversation with the mortal woman continued almost pleasantly. Surprisingly, she knew Thor and was an acquaintance of the woman who had changed his brother in such a short time. Loki had sent himself not only to the same realm his brother had been in, but the exact location as well. Figures.

His initial instinct when Loki heard Thor's woman was near was revenge, but he just wasn't inspired. He didn't want to hurt an innocent mortal woman just for associating with his brother. Even he was not that ruthless. _Says the monster that just tried to commit genocide against his own race._

The young woman in front of him, Darcy, offered him a ride to the nearest town. That he could not refuse. She was kind, not scared of him, and amusing enough. If he was to be dwelling here for a while, and he probably would be considering the magic situation, it would be good to know at least one person. Not necessary, but preferable.

"You lost your armor," Darcy stated as she turned on the machine that she had used to hit him. (Loki remembered at some point hearing the term 'car' for this sort of thing, but he was not exceedingly familiar with Midgardian traditions of the past hundred years or so.)

"Conjuring myself here took a lot of energy and magic. I doubt I will have my normal abilities for quite a few days."

"Ah. Do you need a place to stay until then?"

"It is not necessary, but if it is of no inconvenience, I will take you up on that offer,"

"Yeah, it's totally chill. So… apparating takes your clothes?" she asked.

"It wasn't something I was concentrating on," Loki said, assuming the word she had used meant travelling between realms.

"Well, if I showed up places without my clothes, my life would definitely be a lot more interesting. Actually, after these last few days, I don't know if I could handle more interesting. Well, now that I've found you, I doubt things are going to get less interesting. If SHIELD captures me for helping you, you better bust me out. Anyways, showing up naked to work would definitely freak Jane out. She's a fairly modest gal, you see. And Jane getting freaked out is always really funny. I might have to try that out one day."

He attempted to break down his response, since she had said so many things at once. "Firstly, as you can see, I am not naked. Travelling between realms only took my armor, not every piece of clothing on my body. If this 'SHIELD' does attempt to harm you for aiding me, I will indeed help you escape its grasp. Lastly, if you wanted to make a bit of mischief for your friend, I can think of several more inventive tricks you could perform."

Loki had made the (probably rash) decision that he liked this Midgardian. She had a taste for mischief, which he greatly appreciated. Darcy was intelligent, yet simple, and she was unquestionably entertaining. The major drawback to her that Loki could see was that she talked more than most people he had ever met, but even that detail of her had the potential to be enjoyable. She had successfully distracted him, from hitting him with her car (something like that didn't really hurt him, it had simply surprised him) to planning a prank on Thor's woman. He could definitely see himself befriending Darcy. Loki's initial reaction, to be hostile and scare her off, seemed like a distant notion. He was no bully, and for as long as he lived he would strive not to be the monster he was born as.

Darcy drew him back to reality. "Dude, maybe you could help me prank her sometime. Not on the naked one, of course. Inappropriate. But I bet having the God of Mischief's help on a prank would make it legendary."

"I'll see what I can do," he said, actually smiling.

No. This was all wrong. Loki had just been in immense suffering, and now he was joking around with a mortal woman. Why wasn't he in pain? He should be upset, guilty, hurt— but he just wasn't. The same went for his lack of desire to harm Jane; he simply wasn't feeling any of these negative emotions. He felt… numb. Perhaps when he was falling he had given everything he had in the way of pain and now was just the calm before the acceptance and bitterness kicked in. Loki had always been so headstrong. Of course, he had also been jealous of his brother, which had lead to the attempts to be worthy that drove him to almost destroying an entire realm.

Darcy suddenly spoke. "Hey, you ok in there? You've got a serious thinking face on. Is everything all right?"

"I'm fine," Loki said icily, silencing her. He immediately regretted his coldness, noticing her hurt look from his comment.

The car stopped beside a building and Darcy quickly exited. Loki followed suit and trailed her into the building, observing all of the piles of papers and wires and miscellaneous scientific equipment. Darcy quickly picked up a couple of items off a desk and walked to a side door.

"You coming?" she asked, looking back at him.

The two of them walked halfway down the street before Darcy suddenly turned and stopped. Her home, an apartment above a store on the main road of the town, was small and pleasant. Loki had noticed when passing the storefront below that the window had been damaged, but Darcy's apartment remained unscathed from the Destroyer he had sent.

Darcy threw all of her belongings onto a table and turned to face him.

"Well, here it is," she said, halfheartedly motioning around the room. "If you want to shower— what am I saying, you were rolling around in the desert today. I hit you with a car. Of course you want to shower. Anyways, the bathroom's right over there. You'll be sleeping here, on the couch," Darcy waved her arm at that. "I can make it up while you shower or whatever."

"Thank you," Loki said genuinely. Darcy simply continued with her ramblings.

"I guess you might want some other clothes as well. I don't think any stores are open this late at night, but tomorrow morning we can go to Jane. She has some clothes that'll probably fit you. They fit Thor and that weirdo Don. Although, you're a little smaller than them. I mean, you're taller, but they were both built. I guess we can go shopping tomorrow. Until then, I guess you'll have to do without."

"I do believe I'll manage."

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Darcy suddenly said. "I didn't even tell Jane. Why should I tell her? She's not my mother. I feel like I'm harboring a fugitive. This is so exciting. I think I might throw up."

"Are you all right?" Loki asked unsurely, fairly confident he followed most of her incoherence.

"Yeah, totally. It's like an excited throwing up, not a sick throwing up." She paused. A moment later, she started laughing. "I can't believe I just said that. Wow. In case you haven't caught on by now, I'm kind of an open book. No filter. I tend to just say things, especially when I'm nervous. I'm not nervous now though." She bit her lip, stopping herself from continuing with whatever else she was going to say on that subject. "Well, I'm going to go make up the couch. I can turn on the shower for you too, since you've probably never used a shower before. As soon as I do that, you can get naked or whatever. No, not 'or whatever.' People shower naked. Do you even know what a shower is?"

"Yes, I do."

"Ah. In that case, I'll get to it then. I don't know what's with me tonight. Bye." With that, she was off.

Loki was fairly certain he had never met a more talkative person in his entire life. She was interesting to the point of almost being endearing while being in no way irritating; a welcome change from the Asgardians and their 'don't think; do' mentality. Darcy definitely thought, possibly more than most mortals. His earlier assumptions had been correct: Loki could definitely see himself befriending this woman.

* * *

**Thank you so much for all the support on this so far. This is my first go at a non-AU fic, so it's been real. **

**I'd like to quickly apologize for the amount of filler dialogue in this chapter; once I started going, I just couldn't stop. I guess I'm a bit of a rambler too. Whatever.**

**But yeah, there it is. Hope you liked it. See you next time.**


	3. Chapter 3

When Darcy woke in the morning, she had almost a full thirty seconds of ignorant bliss as she thought over what she would make herself for breakfast that morning before it struck her that there was a possibly homicidal god asleep on her couch.

How could she have been that thoughtless? Helping him out a little was one thing, but bringing him home? Loki could have snapped her neck while she slept. He could have done unspeakable things to her.

And then it hit her: he hadn't.

Loki hadn't harmed her or even been overly rude. Sure, he had sassy with her a couple times, but he had thanked her when she brought him in and made up the couch and turned on the shower for him. He could have ended her existence as easily as she could snap her fingers, but for some reason he had decided not to. Perhaps he just hadn't felt like it or hadn't gotten around to it yet. No— she had, for some crazy reason, the feeling that Loki trusted her, at least a little. She had shown him compassion and kindness and in return he hadn't killed her as she slept. Well, that had to count for something on the goodness meter. Besides that, he wasn't a monster; he had just been in a little fight with his brother, that's all. Darcy hadn't heard much of _why_ they were fighting, but maybe she could coax it out of Loki eventually. He had to be hurting over that, definitely more than he was showing. Perhaps, if she was lucky, Darcy could actually help him heal instead of just help him out.

One big question was still rolling around in Darcy's mind; how long would Loki be staying? Yesterday they'd agreed something along the lines of a day or two, but she wasn't going to kick him out if he needed longer. _Oh, I'll figure it out later._

Darcy quickly grabbed her glasses from the bedside table and rolled out of her oversized bed. The bed had been one of the only things she had invested in when moving into this shithole apartment, but now that her salary had been significantly increased via SHIELD, she would definitely be redecorating. When Darcy walked over to the door and attempted to open it, the handle fell out in her hand. Perhaps she would just move to a slightly more upscale place instead of just redecorating.

Darcy had three options in front of her, two of which she did not have the strength or patience to deal with. She could attempt to bust down the door. That would most likely end up with her whimpering on the floor and in need of even more help than she already needed. The second option would be for her to attempt to fix the door, but she lacked any tools or knowledge for that sort of job. This left her final option: call for help from the trickster god currently residing in her living room.

Darcy swallowed what little pride she had and mentally prepared for this. Why was she nervous? She was simply asking him to come open the door. Still, she felt her heartbeat accelerating.

Before she could say anything, she heard Loki walking down the hall. _If he's a mind reader, I quit, _she thought.

A soft knock on the door was followed by Loki's voice calling through. "Darcy, there is an object out here that has been making noise and vibrating off an on for the past five minutes. Would you like me to destroy it?"

Object making noise— her cellphone. "No! Don't do that! It definitely does not need to be destroyed. But I do need a different favor,"

"Yes?"

"Can you open the door?"

There was a short pause. "Is this a hypothetical question?"

"No. I can't open the door on this side."

"How do you get out normally?"

"This whole thing is a recent complication that I would love to explain to you once I get out of this room. So, how 'bout it?"

Darcy heard Loki's hand on the door handle, but the door did not open.

"Darcy, why is the doorknob in my hand and not on the door?"

"It fell out on your side too? Well shit." Darcy dropped to her knees and looked through the hole where the handles had been. Instead of focusing on the fact that there was a hole in her door, she was more distracted by what she saw through it. "Christ on a cracker, why are you naked?"

"You said yourself that my clothes were dirty and I would need to do without," he said, confused by her exclamation. "How do you know that, anyway?"

"Down here, big boy. Hole in the door at waist level."

Loki dropped down to her level. "You mortals and your obsession with modesty. What would you like me to do about the door?"

"Well, for starters, put some pants on. After that, I don't know. I don't suppose you're handy with Midgardian doorknobs?"

"I can't say that I am. I could simply break down the door, if you so request."

"It may come to that. Let me see if I can get out my window." Darcy turned away to contemplate how badly she wanted out of her room. "Maybe I can climb down or something,"

"No," Loki's voice suddenly turned dark. Darcy turned back to look at him, one eyebrow raised. "Do not risk injury to yourself. I will have the door open in just a moment."

When he stood to go put on pants or whatever, Darcy got just a fleeting glimpse of skin she wished she hadn't enjoyed as much as she had. _Stop it, Darcy, _she thought._ That is a hundred levels of inappropriate. _When Loki returned, he had simply added the black trousers he had had on the day before.

"Step away from the door," he called through. Darcy immediately scrambled to the side. A moment later, her door flew open with great force, almost flying off of its hinges. Darcy internally smacked herself for thinking how badass Loki looked; he had literally kicked the door down, classic action movie-style.

"Are you all right?" Loki asked when he turned to her, looking concerned.

"Yeah, I'm good. Thanks, man. I bet this whole deal would have been a lot more climactic if the room was on fire or someone was attacking me, but it was exciting nonetheless."

"I don't believe I would've stood in the hall for as long if either of those had been the case, but I am happy to have assisted you regardless."

"Totally. It's been real. Now, you said my phone was ringing a bunch. I bet you anything it was all Jane." Darcy moved past him and headed toward the little table by the front door where she had accidentally left her phone the night before. Five missed calls and three text messages, all from Jane. That was a new record, if Darcy wasn't mistaken.

Text number one:

_darcy why arent you answering me are you all right_

Texts two and three were the same message, reading:

_darcy pick up your phone are you dead what happened to you_

Darcy checked the time; she was only an hour late for work, and that was nothing out of the ordinary. On days Darcy had stayed up late the night before, she usually wouldn't even come in until after lunch. That had always been fine with Jane, since most of Darcy's job was paperwork that she could get done on her own time or stargazing/sky-watching late at night, hoping to spot a portal opening and Thor flying out.

Darcy pressed the 'call' button for Jane's number and held the phone to her ear. Not even a half a ring into the call, Jane picked up and began her hysteria.

"Darcy? Oh god, you're all right! Why didn't you answer? You always answer like immediately,"

"Calm down there, you sound like a psycho girlfriend. Save all that for when Thor comes back. I didn't answer because I was asleep and I left my phone in the living room. Why did you need me so urgently?"

"Well, I called the first time to let you know you had the day off, but then I got worried because you didn't answer and the last time I saw you you where heading out into the desert by yourself and I was just really worried something happened—"

"Slow down. I'm fine. Thanks for giving me the day off. Now, take a few deep breaths, do a little yoga, maybe break out a bag of weed or something; do whatever it is that calms you down. I'm going to hang up so I can begin my day by possibly reenacting that scene in _Risky Business_ when he slides across the floor in a dress shirt and socks,"

"All right. Have fun. Sorry I freaked out so much,"

"Nah, it's all good. I understand. The desert's a scary place. You never know when you'll run into a Norse god or something," Darcy glanced at Loki as he walked into her kitchen, raising a brow at the mentioning of their situation.

Jane laughed, not knowing her true meaning. "Ok. I'll see you tomorrow,"

"Bye,"

Darcy put her now almost dead cellphone down and plugged it in to charger she kept by her computer. Walking into the kitchen, she watched as Loki examined a box of cereal she had left out the morning before.

"That's food. You can eat it."

"I know what food is," Loki snarled. "And I was under the impression that Midgardian food was slightly more decent than cardboard,"

"The food's inside the box, smartass. And by the way, that's usually eaten with milk, in a bowl, with a spoon."

Loki seemed confused by her meaning and slightly angered by her tone.

"How about we start with pop-tarts and build from there?" Darcy remarked, taking the cereal box from him and putting it up in the cabinet.

"What dare I ask is a pop-tart?" It sounded funnier than Darcy had imagined coming from his mouth and with his regal accent.

"You'll like them. Thor ate a whole box when he first found them."

Loki hesitated in speaking. "Thor was here? With you, specifically?"

"Nah, he was Jane's pet god. Speaking of which, you won't get to meet Jane until tomorrow." Now Darcy was the one that paused. "If you want to stay that long, that is. You're welcome to, if you want to. I don't know what you need or what you plan to do while here, but you can stay here if you want. My door is open to all Asgardians. That sounded dirtier than I meant it."

"That is very generous of you," Loki said carefully, "I appreciate your hospitality." His words sounded cold and calculating instead of warm and sincere. Did he think she was lying?

"Really. You're good. Anyways, after breakfast, we should totally go buy you some clothes." Darcy pulled the pop-tarts out and opened a pack, throwing them into her toaster.

"You do not need to spend your money on me. I do not want to be more of an inconvenience," Loki said lowly. "I am sorry for being so intrusive in your life. As soon as my magic is restored, I will leave this realm and free you from the burden I am. If you want me gone before then, just say the word."

Darcy turned back around. "I said it before, dude. It's all good. It's no inconvenience at all. At least, not one that's all bad. You seem like decent enough company. Plus, you saved me from having to climb out my window today. Side note: after the doorknob fiasco today, I've decided now is the time for an upgrade housing-wise. I have the means, thanks to SHIELD, so I'll just need to pick a day to go apartment shopping. I'll probably be getting something with two bedrooms, so you can even have an actual bed. It'll be fun. I've always wanted a roommate, and now I've got one. Of course, when I pictured my potential roommate, I always thought of a girl best friend or something like that. However, I am adaptable. You seem like you'll be handy enough— that's not what I meant. You seem like you'll be useful to have around."

"And you seem to be making long-term plans to have me around, and for that I am extremely grateful. You are much more hospitable a guest than I could have anticipated, and you have treated me more kindly than I deserve,"

"I don't know how many times I have to say it. You're fine."

Darcy finished what little preparation their breakfast needed and handed Loki his portion. When he seemed to like them, Darcy couldn't help smiling.

After breakfast, Darcy quickly showered and got dressed and Loki simply pulled on the shirt he had had on yesterday and the two of them went down to the town's department store. Assuming he would be there a few days, a week tops (they would buy more if the situation called for it), Darcy bought him a few outfits and one pair of shoes. All of the shirts she got had at least small touches of dark green; she had noticed he seemed to like that color, along with black.

Having no idea if he would need to shave, she threw a razor in the basket as she passed it just in case. Men's shampoo, socks, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and other essentials piled up in the basket, but Darcy found it increasingly difficult to pick out what he needed. She had no idea what Loki would prefer, but Loki had no idea what most of the things in the store were. When the time came, she simply showed him the underwear section and immediately left him to his thoughts there.

_So awkward. I'm never having children; I could never do this with a son._

* * *

When Loki wandered back to Darcy, she handed him the basket and started walking again. For some reason, Darcy seemed to be getting very uncomfortable with the situation, specifically when dealing with items that were much more personal.

"We need to get you some pajamas," Darcy glanced back at him as she spoke. "They're casual clothes that you sleep in. You are not sleeping naked again, especially since I can't close my door now."

"There are more casual clothes than these?" Loki asked hesitantly, eyeing the t-shirt in the carrier.

"Yes. You don't sleep in armor, do you? Here, we don't sleep in dress clothes or jeans. We have comfortable clothes for sleeping or relaxing. Not many people here sleep naked, especially in sleepover situations. Now, I don't give a rat's ass about a shirt, but you at least need pants while you're sleeping."

"Fair enough," Loki muttered, curiously observing a woman with a screaming child walking by.

"Here, do you like these?" Darcy held up a pair of long cotton pants, dark green and black in color and plaid in pattern.

"They will suffice."

"All right then," She threw that pair and a pair very similar to them into the basket in his hand. "I guess we're done here. Let's check out and then we can set up—"

"Darcy," Loki interrupted, his eyes sullen and drained. "How long do you anticipate me staying here?"

Darcy seemed unfazed by his seriousness. "I don't know, like a week maybe?" She started to walk past him toward the registers but he grabbed her arm, being careful to not seem overly forceful while still being firm. Loki was slightly shocked by the fact that she didn't seem scared by him having laid a hand on her; in fact, she looked more concerned than anything.

"I do not know how long my abilities will take to return. It could be tomorrow or it could be months from now. I do not want—"

"Shut up. We've already had this discussion. You're beginning to sound like a broken record— repeating yourself, that is. You're not a burden, you're not any trouble, bla bla bla. Do I need to make it a neon sign? I'm happy to help you. I don't care if you're here until I'm sixty. You seem like you need a little help, so I'm just doing what a decent person should do. Well, maybe what a stupid person would do. Whatever. Just stop being so morose about it."

Loki, for all of his quick-wittedness, was silenced. Darcy genuinely wanted to help him. He would have to make that up to her. How? With his friendship? No, he wanted to give her something of value. Perhaps when he regained his magic, he could conjure her riches to the extent she would live as a queen in her realm for the rest of her life. That would probably be more fitting and useful to her.

Darcy turned where she was, now several yards away. "Well, come on," she ordered impatiently. He blindly listened, trailing behind her. Did she think of him as a child? Is that why she was being so hospitable? No— he quickly smashed out what doubt for her he had in his mind; Loki would take everything Darcy said at face value and not attempt to read into anything too deeply. He had learned his lesson about thinking too much into things before. With Darcy, he would treat her with the kindness she deserved and attempt to not add any more stress in her life. She was helping him, therefore Loki would trust her.

When they returned to her home, Darcy quickly got to work setting up his belongings. She made a pile of his new clothes on the table beside the couch and found a basket in her room that she put all of his other items in.

Darcy sat down on the couch cross-legged with the basket of his belongings. Looking at him expectantly, she patted the cushion beside her.

"All right," she began as he sat down. "Lesson number one in Midgardian things. Before we start, do you know what any of these things are?"

"I'm fairly sure I could figure out their purposes," he replied.

"And risk you cutting off your ear trying to shave or splattering toothpaste all over my bathroom? I don't think so. Ok, these—" She held up two objects, a stick with bristles and a colorful tube that seemed to be made of gel, "—are a toothbrush and toothpaste. You put the paste on the stick and rub it on your teeth. That sounded weird. It's to keep your teeth healthy and shit."

"Not necessary. I have a spell that is still in affect that takes care of that."

"You could have said that before I bought these!" she exclaimed, swinging the hand with the two items in it around wildly as she spoke.

"I didn't know what they were for," he defended, mindful of her hand.

"Fine. Next item. This is a razor. I don't suppose you have a spell for shaving as well?" Darcy asked.

"I do, actually."

"How come those spells still work, but you lost your armor?" she lowered an eyebrow suspiciously.

"My armor was temporary. The spells we speak of now are more permanent and won't disappear unless my magic becomes exceedingly depleted."

"Ah ha. Well, I guess I'll try to return some of the things I bought. Let's move this Midgardian things lesson to electronics." She stood and grabbed the item that had been making sounds earlier that morning. "This is a cellphone. If you stay for a long time, I might get you one. As for now, I'll just teach you how to make a call with it in case of emergencies. You turn it on or wake it up with this button," She pointed to a black button on the top. When she pressed it, the object lit up and a picture of the desert mountains appeared, along with an animated bar that read 'slide to unlock' at the bottom. "And then you just slide that across,"

"How do I slide a picture?" Loki asked, confused.

"It's a touch-screen. You interact with it by touching it. After you slide it across, you press that button that says 'phone.' Press 'contacts' next. I'll have Jane as the first one, so if anything ever happens to me and you need her fast, you'll just have to do that. Click Jane's contact, press call, and there you go." She returned to the original screen and pressed the button on the top again, returning the screen to black. "You try it, except don't actually call Jane. Stop right before you get there."

Loki took the phone from her carefully, as if he was expecting it to bite him. He followed the steps Darcy had given him successfully and ended up just where she had been.

"Good," she said, pleased. "I'll make you do that again later to see if you remember. As for now, how about I teach you about the microwave?"

* * *

After teaching Loki the fundamentals of her phone, several kitchen appliances, and the television, Darcy decided that was a good place to call it a day. Teaching him the basics of her computer and the internet would have to be another time. It was almost three in the afternoon, so she had just enough time to go over to the apartment complex a block away to see if there were any openings. Leaving Loki with a few books and instructions not to answer the door, she headed out.

Lucky for Darcy, there was in fact a fairly nice two-bedroom apartment well within her price range that was free for a year-long lease. Feeling bold from being a little sassy with Loki earlier and annoyed from the doorknob malfunction, she signed the lease on the spot. Darcy had never been short on spontaneity. She just had to wait a day or two before moving in for housekeeping reasons.

Elated, Darcy returned home just an hour after leaving. She made Loki and herself dinner fit for a king— well, spaghetti was probably eaten by a king at some point— and afterwards Darcy decided it was a good of a time as any to introduce Loki to the concept of a movie. Ignoring his quip about 'how very Midgardian' the idea of it was after she had explained it as 'books you don't have to put effort into,' Darcy popped in _Inception_ and ignored most of Loki's comments throughout the film. Though they were sitting on opposite ends of the couch, Darcy couldn't help eying his shoulder and wondering how comfortable it was to lean on. _Wow, it's only been a day and I already have a dumb little kid crush on him. He is an attractive dude, and that is all I will ever think on the subject. Admiring attractiveness isn't a crime. _

About halfway through the movie, Darcy felt herself drifting off to sleep. She may or may not have been partially awake and enjoying herself when Loki carried her to her room and put her on the bed, pulling a blanket over her and turning off the light before returning to finish the film she could totally tell he actually really liked.


	4. Chapter 4

**Supporters, reviews, countrymen; I love you with all my heart.**

**lokiXdarcy: Might of been. (That story is why I ship tasertricks.) Thank you for your kind words :D**

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**Everyone else: You are all beautiful and make me happy. I hope every last one of you find twenty dollars or like a bag of chips or something on the ground today.**

**My apologies for such a long author's note. Anyways: enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Jane had sent Darcy out two nights before, barely worried for her in the slightest. They had both been out in the desert before by themselves and Darcy had that taser of hers as always. She could very well handle herself. However, the next morning, when Jane had called Darcy to let her know she had the day off, Darcy had not answered. Jane had gotten an awful feeling— Darcy, alone out in the desert, some creep showing up, overpowering and murdering her with no one to hear the screams. Jane had called a few more times with no luck. Just as Jane was about to call the police, Darcy had called back and let her known that she was all right. The bad feeling was gone and Jane was at peace.

The next morning, when Darcy walked in to work with a man and introduced him as Loki, that bad feeling returned with a vengeance. For what it was worth, Jane hadn't screamed. Sure, she had felt more than inclined to. Scream in terror at Loki, scream in rage at Darcy, scream at the sky for her being in this situation, for fate giving her back the wrong Norse god. She held herself together and pulled Darcy outside, slamming the door shut behind them. The two of them entered the RV Jane used as a home and she quickly turned to face her.

"Darcy! What the hell do you think you're doing, bringing him here? Do you know who that is?" Jane exclaimed.

"Yes, I know who it is—"

"Then why is he with you? Are you insane?"

"I wasn't just going to leave him in the middle of the desert. I hit him with a car, Jane."

Jane paused at that. "You hit him with a car?" she asked, desperately fighting off the smile that was attempting to spread across her face.

"Yeah. You know, if we keep doing that, Asgardians are going to think it's like a meeting ritual,"

"It doesn't matter," Jane suddenly sobered. "He's dangerous. Thor had to leave because he had to go _fight Loki_. Now you want to be friends with Loki?"

"I never said I wanted to be friends with him; I just got him some clothes and a place to stay. If he's here, that probably means he lost against Thor. The last thing he needs is to be kicked while he's down."

"Why does it matter what he needs?" Jane yelled. "If Thor had to fight him, that means he's the bad guy. Why on earth should we help him?"

"We don't know he's the bad guy, Jane. There are two sides to every story," Darcy shot back.

"He sent that thing that destroyed half the town! Of course he's the bad guy!" Jane sighed in an attempt to calm herself down.

Darcy softened her expression. "Please, Jane. I've been around him for a day and a half now. I don't think he's all bad. He helped me when my door broke. I'm actually pretty sure he carried me to bed last night when I fell asleep on the couch. He's been nice— distant, but nice. Before you make a decision, just meet him."

"I guess. So, where's he staying? Are you letting him sleep on your couch?" Jane asked, half-joking. Darcy bit her lip and looked at the ground.

"Darcy! You are actually insane. You've let a magical, murderous, alien being stay at your house. He could've murdered you for fun! He could have—"

"He didn't, Jane." Darcy said quietly. "Look, I'm going to be honest here. He scares me. He should scare anyone with half a brain. But I trust him, for some reason. He's been around me for like thirty six hours now and he hasn't hurt me at all. Actually, he's helped me out, like I said. Now, I don't know exactly what this means or the extent of it, but he says he's lost his powers temporarily and that he'll be out of here once he gets them back. I believe him. I'm letting him stay with me as long as he needs to because I want to be a good person and I think this is the right thing to do. Oh! Side note: I bought a new apartment yesterday. Now he'll have his own room, too."

"Darcy," Jane said, squeezing the bridge of her nose in an attempt to alleviate the oncoming headache, "There's a difference between being a good person and letting the potential murderer of our entire town stay in your new second bedroom,"

Three sharp knocks interrupted their conversation. The two women moved to the door and saw the man in question standing there, a polite smile on his mouth and a kind look in his eyes.

"Sorry, I just heard a bit of yelling and I wanted to see if you were all right," Loki looked only at Darcy as he spoke. Jane looked from Darcy, who had blushed at that, to Loki, who was now slightly smiling as he looked at Darcy. _Ok, _Jane thought, _what the actual fuck?_

"Yeah, we're good here." Jane said, looking between the two of them again. "I'm Jane, by the way. I don't think I had the time to say that earlier,"

"Pleasure," he said, taking her hand and lightly kissing her knuckle. _Must run in the family._

"Look at you, charming the panties right off of everybody present. You and your brother, I swear," Darcy said.

Loki smiled at the comment, but something was off in his eyes. "Princes are held to a standard, after all,"

"You and Thor are princes? I don't think he ever told me that one." Darcy turned to Jane, "Looks like you caught yourself a good one, huh?"

Jane ignored that comment. "Let's move this back into the lab,"

The three of them— Jane warily, Darcy awkwardly, and Loki confidently— entered the lab. Jane turned on the two of them to explain how she felt about the whole thing honestly, but she saw Loki looking at some of her work hanging on the tack board.

"I didn't know mortals had knowledge of travelling between realms," he said, observing some of their readings.

"Well, we don't. Yet, anyway." Darcy said, standing beside him. The two of them were now facing the other way as they stood in front of the board, effectively cutting Jane out of the conversation.

"Is this a model for a Bifröst?"

"Bifröst?" Darcy asked, confused.

"A portal between realms," Loki explained patiently. Jane raised a brow as she watched the two of them interacting. Loki was surprisingly gentle in the way he spoke with Darcy— a far cry from what Jane had imagined him being like from what little Thor had said in passing and from the fact that he had sent the Destroyer a few days before. It was borderline sweet, the way he looked at her and spoke to her.

"Oh. Yeah, I guess that's what this is." Darcy said. "We're kind of just looking for Thor. Boss-lady had some unfinished business with him,"

Jane watched as Loki visibly flinched at the mention of his brother's name, but Darcy didn't seem to notice as she kept talking. Jane cleared her throat, causing the two of them to turn around to face her.

"Darcy," she said, taking in a deep breath and blinking a few times in frustration.

"Sorry. Personal information, got it." Darcy said. She walked over to Jane and leaned against the lab table. Loki walked over as well, keeping a slight distance from the two women.

"So," Jane began, addressing Loki. "Since you heard us yelling, you probably heard what we were saying," Loki's expression was non-committal either way. Helpful. "What I had been getting at was that although Darcy is blindly trusting you, I am not." That came out harsher than Jane had intended. "You may be perfectly nice, but we do not know you. You are potentially very dangerous. Not potentially— you sent that thing the other day. You may have lost your powers, but you're still an able-bodied man." Jane didn't seem to be able to stop herself. This couldn't go well. "I don't mean to be sexist against myself and women here, but Darcy and I are obviously no match for you. I'm just trying to be realistic and precautious,"

"I fully understand," Loki said. "You want to ensure the safety of yourself and Miss Lewis. I can offer you my word that I will not harm either of you, if my word is worth anything to you,"

"Well, Thor had said you were a pretty talented liar," Jane said, crossing her arms.

"Let me assure you," Loki dictated, "I mean no harm to either of you. As said earlier, I have lost the ability to conjure myself home or otherwise take care of myself, besides my strength and knowledge of survival. Darcy had said that she is willing to let me stay with her, and for that I am eternally grateful. I wish only for a place to dwell until I am able to return home, in as timely a fashion as possible."

Jane contemplated this. As she did, Darcy pushed herself up onto the table, but halfway up she slipped with a small squeak and began falling to the floor. Before Jane could even move, Loki had reached an arm out and caught Darcy, steadying her. Concern flashed through his eyes as he seemed to think something worse than her just slipping had happened, but it quickly dwindled once he apparently saw that she was fine.

"Thanks," Darcy said, blissfully unaware of the look Loki had briefly given her.

"Well," Jane said, moving the conversation along, "Although I am Darcy's boss, I'm not her mother. I can't control what she does in her free time or if she wants to let someone live with her. Do what you want, Darcy. Loki: if you need anything from me, just ask. I'm making the probably hasty decision to trust you, or at least not stop Darcy from being around you. Not my place to do so, I know, but whatever."

Loki smiled, but it didn't seem to reach his eyes. An overwhelming sadness seemed to be ever-present in him. Jane felt a pang of pity, but she quickly smashed it out as she remembered the Destroyer knocking Thor through the air. _There are two sides to every story_, she tried to remember.

"Thank you, Miss Foster," Loki said. "I will do all I can to prove to you over my time here that I do not mean to be rude, destructive, or harmful in my presence or with my actions. All I can ask is for the chance to prove myself better than what you currently think of me,"

_Damn, he's good. No wonder Darcy let him into her house._ "All right," Jane said, finally letting that smile spread across her face.

Though she was still unsure of her opinion of him, Jane was pretty sure he was honest in his intent to just have a place to stay until he could heal. There seemed to be no underlying scheme or secret agenda, but Jane would remain weary even if Darcy was willing to trust him completely.

Jane walked back over to the board Darcy and Loki had been looking at earlier. "You recognized this earlier?" she asked, pointing at the diagram he had seemed to be eyeing earlier.

"Yes," he said, obviously noticing her change of topic. He joined her at the board but Darcy remained behind, her turn to watch Loki interact. "It is very similar to the Bifröst on Asgard. However, that was destroyed upon Thor's homecoming, hence his lack of return here,"

"But you came," Jane said.

Loki paused, searching for the right words. Something Jane said seemed to really bother him— not in an offensive way; her words seemed to have hurt him.

"When the Bifröst was destroyed, I fell from Asgard. I used my magic to transport myself here, but I unintentionally used _all_ of my magic, hindering my ability to return home."

"Why didn't you use your magic to go back to Asgard in the first place?" Jane asked, pressing further.

"Because I had no care of where I ended up or for my well-being," he responded quietly, staring at the picture on the board in front of him. Jane was unsure of how to respond to that. After a moment, she turned to Darcy.

"Have you guys eaten yet?" she asked, her voice higher than she had intended. Loki's comment had affected her more than she cared to admit. Darcy was still looking at Loki like he had just said his puppy died, paying no attention to Jane. When Jane repeated herself, Darcy snapped back to reality.

"Oh, yeah, but I could definitely eat again in like an hour. You and I could do some paperwork and then we can all go to the diner if you want," Darcy said, walking over to her desk.

"Sure," Jane said, glancing back at Loki before joining Darcy.


	5. Chapter 5

It had been a week now since Jane had met Loki and Darcy could definitely see improvement in the way Jane viewed him. She no longer seemed afraid of him, at least externally. Darcy, on the other hand, was still consistent in her views; Loki just needed some help and wasn't _all_ bad. On Loki's second day in the lab with the girls, it had been discovered that he might be able to help them as well: when Loki had been observing some of Jane's data over Darcy's shoulder, he recognized and corrected one of Jane's formulas.

After a few minutes of prodding and discussing, Loki said that with the model Jane was attempting to build, he would be able to power the Einstein Rosen Bridge once he regained his magic as well as assist her in building it to make it as efficient as possible. Jane had jumped at that opportunity, since Loki not only had the means to power the portal device but also the knowledge to help her construct it. Meanwhile, Darcy would be making coffee and keeping spirits high with her witty comments, as always.

The whole thing seemed surreal to Darcy— Norse god number two, significantly less snuggly and adorable than Norse god number one, was now a part of the science team of Puente Antiguo. Mister Mysterious and Brooding had serious issues with emotions; he could be snarky one minute and in the blink of an eye he'd be cold and distant to the point of being unbearable to talk to. His insane mood swings and whatever else was going on in there were probably a psychiatrist's wet dream, but Darcy was pulling her hair out. More than a few times now Darcy had just gotten up and left the room in frustration from the awful or insulting things he said, most of the time unintentionally hurtful. He would make a snide comment about the lesser mortals or be genuinely surprised when she didn't understand a formula that was NASA-level astrophysics and Darcy would just take a deep breath and stop herself from exploding. _Not everyone is as smart as you, Loki. Not everyone is as great as you, Loki. Shut the fuck up before I hit you with a cinderblock, Loki._

When he wasn't driving her up the wall, though, Darcy would find herself very occasionally thinking inappropriate thoughts about Loki, no matter how much she didn't want to. Little things he did distracted her and put thoughts in her head. The way his thumb would lightly rub the side of his forefinger when he was deep in thought. The occasional instance of Loki standing just a little too close to her when they were looking at something together. Darcy, to her shame, caught herself bending at the waist when she went to pick something up off the ground and wearing slightly lower shirts and darker makeup.

_Well, it doesn't hurt to just look nice on occasion_, Darcy had tried to reason with herself. _And I can do little flirty things if I want to. What's he going to do about it? Nothing. I can dress how I want because I damn well please to. And the other half the time I spend with him I'm in my pajamas, so this is just me making up for it. He's fucking hot and I'm only human. I can be shamelessly slutty all I want. Maybe I'll wear a really short skirt and no panties tomorrow. I'm a mad woman. I can't be tamed. Shoot, I'll probably need to buy a skirt if I want to do that… all of the ones I have are around knee-length. Damn my virtuous style preferences. They never allow for my inner-whore to break free._

On the morning of that tenth day of Loki being in town, a thought had occurred to Darcy. She was in the kitchen of her new apartment making breakfast for herself and Loki when it struck her, leaving her to simply call out to him to get his attention.

"Loki!" she yelled, simultaneously flipping a pancake.

"Yes?" he asked almost immediately from just a few feet behind her. She almost dropped the spatula in shock.

"Geez, dude. How long have you been standing there?"

"I have only just approached," he assured.

"Wow, then. You walk really quietly,"

"Would you prefer I stomp around, as all Midgardians seem to do?" Loki all but sneered at her as his mood seemed to be taking a dramatic turn south.

Darcy began putting the pancakes out on the plate. "Chill. No need to get bitchy. I was giving you a compliment, kind of. You don't have to be mean about it,"

"I wasn't aware I was being mean. If your emotions are this fragile, I will be much more delicate in my conversation with you in the future,"

"I'm not _fragile_. You just don't need to be a dick." She smacked the last pancake on top of the pile with such force that she nearly knocked the entire plate to the floor.

Loki took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and spoke quietly, as if he was trying his hardest to actually mean what he was saying. "I'm sorry."

"Whatever. It's too early for me to deal with you. I just wanted to know if you wanted to skip work today and go into the city, but if you are going to be a shithead all day…" She trailed off, too done with him and his damn mood swings.

"Would that be all right with Jane, for us to leave for the day?"

Darcy turned back to face him. He had this dumb little hopeful smile as his eyes danced the line between pleading and suggestion.

"Well, the point of playing hooky is to skip and not care what the people in charge think, but I can call Jane and tell her I'm sick or something,"

"If you want, I could call her, perhaps even say you're too sick to speak on the phone,"

"Good idea. We can call her after breakfast," Darcy said as she put the plate of pancakes on the table and pulled the syrup out of the microwave.

"So, what great Midgardian city will we be visiting today?" Loki asked, getting two forks from the drawer and setting them out.

"Albuquerque. It's like an hour and a half away, but there's a lot more to do there than in Santa Fe. It'll be worth the drive."

"And what are we doing today in Albuquerque?" Loki saying 'Albuquerque' in his weird Asgardian accent was a lot funnier than Darcy had expected. She constrained a snort as the two of them sat down and started breakfast.

"Well, shopping in the city is always fun. We could ride the tram up the mountain, too."

"Ride the _what_?"

"Tram. It's like a— well, you'll see. It's very touristy, but you're a tourist to Earth and everybody has to do the tram at least once. So we'll go shopping, ride the tram, and probably grab food at some point. Sounds like an awesome day to me,"

"If you say so."

"It's going to be great. We can get you some more clothes while we're there." Darcy was aware talking with her mouth full was considered rude and unpleasant and whatever, but she had things to say right now. Loki, for what it was worth, seemed to either not notice or not care, at least outwardly.

"Do I really need more clothes? What I have is sufficient."

"Trust me. You'll get tired of wearing the same clothes. We can get you a little more variety. Plus, you'll probably need a jacket. It gets cold in the desert at night."

Loki suddenly stiffened, his eyes hardening. "I will not need a jacket. I can handle the cold."

"Are you sure? It can get below freezing—"

"I'm sure." He spoke harshly, obviously done with that conversation. Darcy wasn't quite finished.

"What's wrong now? Have a personal vendetta against jackets?"

Loki stared at part of the table in front of him, purposely ignoring her. His breathing was precise, like he was trying to hold himself back from snapping.

"Hey, alien-boy!" She smacked her hand on the table to get his attention but he still didn't move. Loki simply scowled as he stared forward, upset by jackets or cold or whatever. Darcy stood up swiftly and grabbed her plate. After throwing her dish into the sink, she left the room and headed to her bedroom, talking the whole way.

"I'm going to get ready to go. You can come with me— to the city, not my room— and you can be nice and not a dick, or you can stay home and mope around all day. If you come with me and start being a dick, I will stop whatever I am doing and take you home. I don't care if we're halfway up the mountain on the tram; I will take you home immediately."

"Do you think I'm a child? Do you think your idle threats have any meaning to me?" he called after her.

"Yeah, I do! And if you keep snapping at me, I'll send you to your room," she yelled back at him from her doorway.

"Is that supposed to frighten me? Do not forget, mortal—"

"Whoa, hold on a minute. Now, I'm no psychic, but that sounded an awful lot like you starting to threaten me." Loki's expression immediately softened as she spoke. Even from that distance, she could see the panic in his eyes. "If that was the case, we have a serious problem."

"I'm sorry, Darcy," He stood up and started toward her, but she slammed her door shut before he could even get halfway to her.

Darcy leaned against the back of her door and slid down until she was sitting on the ground, holding her head in her hands. _Did we just have a fight? Jeez, that was nuts._

"Darcy?" Loki spoke lowly, knocking on the door lightly. "Darcy, I apologize for my behavior,"

"Shut up. Go do the dishes or something." She managed to keep her voice strong through that.

Loki said nothing but she heard him leave. A few moments later, the sound of glass breaking echoed through the apartment.

"If you just broke something on purpose, you're getting a job to pay for it!" Darcy shouted.

Not getting any response from him, Darcy stood up and went to her bed, falling face down onto her pillow. She gathered it to her face and screamed into it in a sad attempt to alleviate some of the stress and frustration.

Darcy knew she should be upset with Loki. His damn mood swings would probably be the death of her. However, she knew that there was something below the surface that caused him to suddenly be upset or angry whenever she or Jane said something or something happened in a movie or the littlest thing happened. Like she had figured the first day: he was in pain. Something had happened and he just needed a little help getting his footing before he could stand on his own and start to heal. But he was still a dick.

Beside her on the table, her phone received a text message. Darcy reached over and pulled it up.

From Jane, a simple message suddenly sent a chill straight down her spine.

_Shield's here. Get loki and get out of town. I'll cover. GO NOW_

* * *

Loki stood in front of the sink in the kitchen, gripping the edge of the counter to the point of pain. He was still enraged to say the least, but not at Darcy. More than anything, he wished that he hadn't said what he had. He had actually threatened her, Darcy, the one who had taken him in when he deserved nothing more than death. He hadn't even finished his threat before she called him out on it, but by then he had realized what he had done (or had started to do) and internally smacked himself for it.

But Darcy hadn't kicked him out. She hadn't told him to leave and never come back. Of course, it could have been implied, but he'd cross that bridge when and if he got to it. But as it stood, she was still allowing him in her home.

Loki looked over at the broken plate he had thrown against the wall. The wall had no damage, but the plate was beyond any repair. That is, beyond any repair without the aide of magic.

Crouching down beside it, Loki held his hand over the broken pieces. He had felt it a few days before, the distant hum of magic. It was nowhere near enough to do anything substantial, but perhaps it was enough to simply mend a broken plate. It would set him back a little, using magic when he had so little. Something like this would probably add a day or two to the total time he would need to heal. Every day he felt as if complete restoration was farther and farther away; as of now, it would still be months before he would have enough magic to power Jane's machines— if they ever built them.

Though Loki knew he would regret this later down the road, he used what magic he had to put the plate back together. After he stood back up and put the plate on the counter, he had to steady himself and close his eyes to adjust to the new position. His ears were ringing and his head spinning— he had over-exerted himself by doing such a menial task. Pathetic.

Before he had time to truly come back to his senses, he heard the door to Darcy's room open suddenly and her running down the hall and into his bedroom.

"Loki!" she yelled for him. "We have to go right now!"

"Why?" He called back as he tried to keep from falling over.

"Because I said so."

"As great of a reason that is, I would appreciate a little more specificity,"

"Because I want to."

Loki could hear her rummaging through something in his room but ignored it.

"'Because I said so' and 'because I want to.' Your persuasive skills never cease to inspire."

Darcy ran into the kitchen, a bag on her shoulder. "Come on, we're leaving now,"

"You're still in your sleeping clothes."

"We don't have time. I threw clothes in my bag. I'll change later. We have to go right now." Darcy was already headed toward the door.

"Can I have a reason?"

"I'll tell you as we go," she said as she walked out of the apartment and into the hallway. Loki followed drudgingly, trusting her madness for now.

They got into Darcy's car— a rusting, barely-used (as Darcy had said), bright red metal thing— and Darcy quickly drove them out of Puente Antiguo.

"Will you tell me now why we had to leave with such urgency?" Loki asked once they were several miles out of town.

"Jane texted me," Darcy began, "She said that SHIELD was here. They haven't met you yet, but if they figure out who you are, it won't be good for us or you. After the little stint you pulled with the killer-robot, I don't think they'll be in a forgiving mood. Jane and I both figured that it'd be smarter to just get you out of town while they're here."

"What is SHIELD?"

"They're basically police, except more secretive. Spies and liars and killers that do the government's dirty work."

Loki paused, thinking. Finally, he said, "You're going to such lengths to protect me. Why?"

"You're helpful to the Einstein-Rosen Bridge." Darcy said. "Jane will want your help to get it powered up. I don't think you'll be able to do that from a SHIELD holding cell or a ditch or wherever they'd put you if they got ahold of you."

Loki made a noise of recognition and left it at that.

They reached the city a while later, only stopping once at a gas station for Darcy to change her clothes. While there, Darcy spoke to him as little as possible, only talking when she made him pick out something for himself or when she asked him if he had a preference for lunch.

By the time they got onto the tram that evening, Darcy had probably only said a total of ten words to him since they had gotten into Albuquerque.

When they reached the top of the mountain, Darcy took off without waiting to walk with him. Loki caught up with her when she reached the edge of the overlook.

"Darcy," he uttered, getting her attention.

"On a scale from the pizza delivery guy who's running late to a swarm of angry bees, I want you to guess how much I really don't want to see you right now." She wouldn't even look at him as she spoke.

"I'm sorry I was rude earlier. You have been nothing but gracious with me. You allowed me into your home and shown me kindness, and time and time again I have caused you strife. How can I make this up to you?" Darcy spun around to look at him. He could see the very beginnings of tears and the way she was desperately trying to hold them back.

"Well, for starters, you can stop being such a little cocksucker all the time. Like, god _damn._ If I say something you don't like, don't get all bitchy about it. Tell me what you don't like and why you don't like it, and I'll stop doing it. And why is it so fucking cold up here?"

"I will try my best to do that. Is there anything else I can do to show my gratitude?"

"Yeah, actually," Darcy said. "Tell me why you got so angry this morning."

Loki hesitated. He wasn't about to explain to her his Jotunn heritage, but he wanted her to see that he was trying to turn over a new leaf and appease her request.

"I'll tell you some other time," Loki said lowly, not able to look her in the eye. Darcy seemed to accept that and turned back to face the view of the mountains. He could see her shivering, even at a distance of more than several feet.

Loki slid off the button-up sweater he was wearing over his shirt and put it around her shoulders. It was light, but it was more than nothing. She was surprised at first, but allowed it to happen.

The two of them stood side by side, observing, for several minutes in silence.

After a while, Darcy looked over at him. "This is _really_ boring," she stage-whispered.

Loki laughed at that, and Darcy immediately joined in.

* * *

"I got 'em." Darcy said as she approached Loki. She had deemed it unsafe (read: too much effort) to drive all the way back to Puente Antiguo that night. She hadn't brought her cell phone on the off-chance SHEILD would go as far as tracking her phone, but that also meant that Jane would have no way of contacting them. If Jane needed them, she'd have to wait until the next day.

They had gone to a fairly nice hotel in the city, and Darcy had just had Loki sit in the waiting area as she got the room. She didn't want him to be present for what she had ended up doing.

"Are our rooms close to each other?" he asked, standing and picking up their bags.

"You could say that," Darcy said with an uneasy smile.

"Darcy…"

"We're sharing a room. It's no big deal."

Loki simply closed his eyes and sighed, conceding, much to Darcy's surprise. "Are you sure that's appropriate?" he asked, running a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, totally," she said, relieved with his easy acceptance. "We're sharing a room because I'm not wasting my money on two rooms when there are two beds in a room. We are both adults— actually, for all I know, you could be twelve years old and this is just what a twelve year old looks like in Asgard. How old are you?"

"We don't really keep track," Loki said, keeping up with the change of pace. They began making their way to the elevator.

"So you could be twelve,"

"I can assure you that I am not twelve years old."

"But how can you know for sure?" Darcy could see that Loki was unsure if she was extremely insolent or attempting to push him until he reacted.

"I suppose I can't. For all I know, I could be two years old instead of twelve," He was joking with her. That was a good sign.

"That would explain the tantrums."

The two of them went into the room and separately prepared for bed. Everything— their relationship (Darcy was even beginning to consider calling it a friendship), their safety, and perhaps even Loki's mental well-being— seemed fine.

That is, until later that night when the dreams began.

* * *

**Please note: I have never been to Albuquerque or New Mexico or anywhere west of like Louisiana. For this chapter, Google was my friend and I tried to keep it vague. If you're from Albuquerque or have been there and I managed to mess something up, I'm sorry.**


	6. Chapter 6

The night they were in Albuquerque, Darcy had a dream. She had no idea what the dream was about, but she was definitely mostly kind of sure there had been a dream of some kind. Maybe.

When she woke up, she could not for the life of her remember what the dream was about. Normally, when she did dream, Darcy's dreams were ordinary, nonsensical, and definitely very dream-like. But what she had felt that night, she could neither tell herself it was just a dream or that it hadn't actually happened. There was a level of reality to it that shook her, but she had absolutely no content to think of. It was literally just a dream: a hazy black nothingness that graced her subconscious and simply felt completely real.

Darcy sat up in bed as the sun started shining through the crack in the blinds. It was still early in the morning, not even seven o'clock yet. The traffic down below was faint, the city's version of crickets or morning birds.

When Darcy looked over at Loki, she sucked in a breath. An overwhelming feeling of déjà vu hit her, nearly sending her head spinning. It wasn't what Loki was doing that was causing the feeling; it was simply his presence. It his her then: _that _was what she had dreamt of. If that even counted as dreaming.

She had no idea what gave her this confirmation or why she was so sure that Loki was what she had dreamt of— literally nothing had happened in her dream. However, when she looked over at Loki, still asleep in the other bed, she remembered. She had dreamt of just a feeling, and that feeling was Loki's existence. She had never known herself to dream of just a feeling, but she supposed it wasn't completely uncommon for someone to wake up in a certain mood, so maybe that was kind of the same thing. _Or maybe I'm going cuckoo bononos._

Darcy stood up and stretched her limbs. She knew she was making absolutely no sense. _People don't just dream about other people's presence. That's ridiculous. If I was going to dream about Loki, I should have at least had a sex dream. At least that would've been interesting._

Darcy stood at the window of the room and suddenly pulled the blinds from barely being cracked to completely open. She heard a low moan coming from Loki's general direction, and when she turned to look at him she saw his bare back as he turned away from the light.

"Rise and shine, cupcake. We've got a full day ahead of us. I'm giving us one more day in the city, just to make sure SHIELD is long gone when we get back," Darcy said, walking over to the space between the two beds. "And you know what that means: more shopping."

"Can't I just stay here while you go?" Loki muttered into the pillow, barely audible.

"Absolutely not. What would I do all by myself in a big city without the aid of my pet Asgardian for an entire day?"

Loki turned and sat up, swinging his legs off the side of the bed to face her. Thankfully, he was wearing pants this time. "If you call me your pet Asgardian again, I'll turn you into a frog when I get my magic back," he said as he stood up. As always, bed hair looked fantastic on him.

"Do you prefer _cupcake_?" Darcy asked as she slung her bag on the end of her bed and dug around for the clothes she wanted to wear that day.

Loki made a face at her in response and then turned and began stretching in a way not unlike how she had a few minutes before. Darcy caught herself staring at the muscles in his back as they moved and flexed.

She gathered her things and went into the bathroom to get ready for the day, leaving Loki to do whatever it was he did to get ready.

The two of them spent the day hanging around Albuquerque again. That night, Darcy had the same dream. When she woke up the next morning, she did a much better job at ignoring Loki and his general sexiness. They left town early in the morning, reaching Puente Antiguo around when they normally eat breakfast.

Darcy checked her phone— only four texts from Jane, surprisingly. The last one was from eight o'clock the night before, telling her that SHIELD had left and that Darcy and Loki could come into work the next day.

"Look alive, cupcake," Darcy called as she walked into the kitchen where Loki was currently eating breakfast. "We've got work today. Coast is clear."

"SHIELD is gone?" Loki asked in confirmation.

"Either that, or they've kidnapped Jane and are texting in her place," Darcy had said it farcically, but when she thought about it she realized she wouldn't put that past SHIELD.

When Darcy and Loki got to the lab, they did indeed find Jane there, working a few steps ahead of where they had left her. They still had a bazillion steps to go, but Jane had made definite progress.

"It wasn't really SHIELD that came," Jane explained to the two of them, "Just that Agent Coulson character who took all our stuff. He was 'checking in on us,' if you can believe that. I told him that we had some kind of breakthrough so that he wouldn't suspect we're getting much outside help."

"Did he know or ask about Loki?" Darcy asked, glancing his way.

"He asked if anyone else was helping out in here. I told him that a colleague of mine had been in a few times to look over stuff. You know, make it seem less suspicious if Coulson finds out about someone being here."

"Good thinking," Darcy commented absently, her mind now on her still-missing iPod.

"We need to make him an ID," Jane said a few moments later.

"You scientists get to work. I'm on it."

Back when Thor was in town and they had to bust him out of SHIELD's brig, Darcy had made the fake ID to 'prove' his identity. Now that they weren't pressed for time, she could be more careful with the details and actually make an ID that probably would go undetected through SHIELD's systems for at least double the time.

As Loki and Jane wrote formulas and whatnot on the board, comparing results and talking about science and math stuff, Darcy did her thing and made _Logan Thomas Verdig _an identification card. She pulled him aside and took a picture, and within an hour she had an ID for Loki.

When she asked him what he thought of it, he had instead responded with questions of how photography worked and a deep fascination for pictures. _Can't win them all, Darcy._

That night, the three of them ate together in the diner. Loki and Darcy watched _A New Hope _before eventually parting ways for the night.

Darcy had the same dream again, to her frustration. She had it again the next night, and every night for a week. After seven nights of waking up and just thinking of Loki, the dream altered a touch. For example, Darcy woke up in the middle of the night screaming and writhing in pain.


	7. Chapter 7

**(This Author's Note is designed to make you hate me as much as possible.)**

**Fanfiction user **_**Gyoro and Ururun**_** said: "…but what's gonna be the tragic element?"**

**I'm very glad you asked that.**

**However, I can't exactly tell you that, now can I? You know how I adore and abuse my cliffhangers. I suppose I can give some hints…**

**The tragic element mentioned in my summary will:**

**1. Be around chapter 18-ish (unless I combine some chapters or something. Chapter 18 is where I have it on my handy-dandy outline, but that is always fluctuating.)**

**2. Be when you think the story is going to end. Something that seems like the perfect ending will tragically backfire.**

**3. Involve an element of tragedy, Shakespearean-style. To narrow it down, I will say that one of these will be present: separation of society (banishment, exile, being lost, etc.), a show of horrible judgment, or major character death. Which will it be? Who knows? Perhaps I'll have more than one! I won't say anything else on the matter.**

**Was that a good answer?**

**Anyways, as for now… **_**enjoy the peace while it lasts**_**.**

* * *

It was a Thursday, the day Loki realized he actually didn't despise Darcy.

Of course, he had never truly hated her, but she was a mortal. Loki had never really liked the Midgardians or their self-destructive ways. He would hold all of the mortals he met in disregard and slight disgust, but as of recent, he had been increasingly seeing Darcy as more than that. As an equal.

Loki wasn't necessarily growing fond of the girl, but he found himself being concerned for her security and comfort. He was much closer to Darcy than to Jane; when Loki looked at Jane, he could only see his brother. His brother being forgiven so easily. His brother finding happiness here on Midgard. Jane was a reminder of Loki's failed attempts to please his father and the shade Loki had been forced to stand in his entire life. When he saw Jane, he saw Thor.

When Loki looked at Darcy, he saw safety. He saw his own happiness. He saw his salvation. More than that, he saw _her_.

To hell with it.

Damn it all.

He was becoming fond of her.

Darcy's humor and personality were a light while his soul was a dark abyss. She could infuriate him as easy as breathe, but recently he has been finding what he had previously considered her annoyances increasingly funny or endearing or reservedly brilliant. Darcy was beautiful, there was no denying that. There were some days that he swears she was doing it on purpose, dressing in such a revealing way. Lucky for him, he was not as obvious when ogling her from a distance as she was with him. He had caught her staring at him as he worked or was doing something around the apartment, but she had quickly looked away, flustered or even muttering an excuse. Every once in a while, Loki would catch her looking at him and their eyes would simply meet for a blissful moment, expressions full of contented, relaxed trust and perhaps even pure attraction. Darcy obviously liked him, to Loki's slight disbelief. He was nothing to be admired, personality-wise. Sure, he was a god, or at least she thought so. He was a fairly appealing man, as men went. That's what he figured was going on here: Darcy simply felt minor physical attraction to him. That right there was why he would not be acting on his attraction for her; he didn't want to put her in that position. She had a schoolgirl crush, nothing more than simple temptation or lust. If she and Loki were to become something more, something physical or even romantic, that would require an intimacy that Darcy wouldn't want or need in her life. Besides, Loki couldn't put her in that position. Even he was not that selfish. The two of them could be friends, but nothing more. Darcy was simple, good, and wholesome and she should remain that way. Loki could protect her by not pursuing her and by distancing himself emotionally. That he was good at.

The night that he realized his affection for her, Loki and Darcy had yet another movie night back at their apartment. The two of them were beginning to become completely used to each other's presence, whether it be simple household things or simply knowing each other's personal preferences. Loki knew that Darcy hated most berries but loved strawberries. Darcy had pointed out the other day that Loki adores Tarantino movies and film noir. They were getting to know each other very well— perhaps better than anyone else ever had. All of this wasn't helping Loki's plan of distancing himself.

During the movie Darcy had insisted on watching, she had grabbed a throw pillow from beside her and hugged it to her chest, seemingly actually scared by the movie.

Something farcical happened on the screen, but Darcy jumped and yelped.

"Is this scaring you?" Loki asked, disbelieving.

"Hey, fuck you. _Paranormal Activity_ is way outside my comfort zone. I'm used to mindless action or Disney, not this bullshit."

"You're the one who insisted on watching it."

"Only because you and I are the only living beings on the planet who haven't seen this movie,"

Loki left it at that and returned to watching the movie. As Darcy got back into it, she began hugging the pillow so tightly that Loki thought it might actually burst. There was some kind of lead up happening in the movie— he was fairly certain it was the end of the movie, although absolutely nothing was happening at the moment on the screen. Footsteps sounded on the screen and Darcy began breathing quickly. Suddenly the male's body was thrown at the camera and Darcy literally screamed, threw the pillow at the wall opposite them, and now used Loki for the pillow's job. This initially shocked him, but after a second he put his arm around her in comfort. Her face was in his chest and her hands were clasping his shirt to the point he could feel it ripping.

All of this happened in the time of about five seconds. Darcy turned her head to watch the end of the movie. The female in the film was over the male's body, now apparently some kind of demon or animal. She looked at the screen and suddenly lunged, and the film ended. As the character dove toward the camera, Darcy squealed and shoved her head back into Loki's chest.

"Jesus fucking Christ. We are never watching horror again," she spoke into his shirt.

"It's just a movie, Darcy." He rubbed her back a little in an attempt to console.

"Fuck you."

"Your language gets uncharacteristically vulgar when you're frightened."

"Yeah? That's cause that fucking scared the shit out of me," She leaned back away from him slightly, but kept her hands in place. There was legitimate terror in her eyes.

"Darcy," Loki said, sobering. "What's frightening you?"

"The fucking demon in the fucking movie, what do you think?"

"I can assure you, there is no demon or ghost in this apartment or town or realm. If there was, do you really think I would let one harm you?"

"Really?"

"Of course."

Darcy considered this for a moment. "If I have nightmares tonight, it's your fault,"

"I don't see how that could possibly make logical sense to you, but I suppose that's fine."

The two of them parted ways shortly after, each of them going to bed in their separate rooms.

* * *

Loki was lying on the ground in an endless black room, no light or sound to be seen or heard. He was in pain, that was for sure, but why or specifically where in his body was uncertain to him. He felt despair, panic, and isolation, but thankfully didn't feel the sensation of falling that he now associated those feelings with.

There was a light nearby. Loki reached for it, but it was just a little too far. He began crawling for the light, but he still couldn't reach. It was like his body moved but he did not move forward.

He reached again for the light, but then suddenly it was everywhere, an explosion of color and pure heat. All he could see was light. Fire burned at his skin and made him scream. Faintly, as if in the distance, he could hear deep, gravelly laughing. The panic was overwhelming him, the pain was making him scream and writhe, and the eyes— the eyes were everywhere but there was just one set. They pierced him, cut him open, and mocked him.

Loki gasped awake in his bed, sitting up and immediately regretting it. His head felt like it had been split open but that was quickly fading. It had certainly been a dream, but it had a realistic quality not unlike what he had felt with his dreams about Darcy recently.

A sudden, earsplitting scream cut through the apartment.

_Darcy._

Loki burst from his room and down the hall, entering her room and stooping to her side. She was screaming and thrashing, but she was still asleep.

"Darcy, wake up," he exclaimed, reaching a hand out to grab her arm. Her eyes flew open and she gasped, breathing with some difficulty. Loki put his hand on her cheek instinctively as he searched her eyes.

She looked at him like she didn't recognize him, but then seemed to realize who he was and closed her eyes, leaning into his hand. She propped herself up on her elbows, with some instability at first.

"Loki," she said quietly, now close to tears.

"What happened?"

"I had a nightmare. Except, it wasn't about _Paranormal Activity _or demons or anything like that."

"You're ok now, all right? You're safe here,"

"It felt so real," A tear fell down the cheek his hand wasn't on. "I was alone, in a black room. But there was a light,"

Loki's stomach dropped but he didn't let it show on his face.

"And then suddenly everything was on fire, and I don't know why, but it was like I was just panicking, and it was awful,"

Loki swallowed. "That sounds horrific, but it was just a dream, Darcy. It can't hurt you here."

"I know," she said, closing her eyes. "But… the eyes. It was like they could see me— all of me. It physically hurt when they looked at me."

Loki couldn't help it. He swiftly stood and sat down beside her on the bed, holding her in his arms. She accepted his show of affection and curled up into his chest.

"I told you earlier," Loki said. "Nothing will harm you while I'm here. I promise."

"Thanks, Loki," she sniffed, and then she snorted in a dry half-laughter. "You're the best roommate ever."

"Only the best for you, Darcy," he deadpanned, but he found himself smiling.

He tried not to think about the dream, with little success.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry that I've taken so long to get this up. I don't have a good excuse. Woops.**

**I'd like to thank my brand new beta, samantha-shakespeare, for being the most wonderful person in the whole wide world and for telling me that my plan for this story isn't poop. (Us people with 'shakespeare' in our usernames have to stick together).**

* * *

It was more than official now, in Darcy's mind.

Loki was _hot._

That much was obvious. Anyone with at least two of their major senses could tell you that. Darcy, on the other hand, could probably write a novel about all of the things that made Loki the finest person on the face of the Earth or any other planet.

So many different things just downright bothered her about him. For one, he was too perfect. She considered every single part of him _fucking hot_. His mouth. His hands. His eyes (_how can someone's eyes be hot? That doesn't even make sense. Loki's eyes are so hot though_…). His fucking bone structure was attractive. And how was it possible for someone to be that tall? He always seemed to tower over her, yet still be able to easily meet her eyes. And then there was his body; skinny but muscular, very toned, and _good lord _did he look good the day of the doorknob incident.

It somewhat concerned her, her ever-growing crush on him. Looking back, Loki was technically Darcy's would-be murderer, if Thor hadn't saved the day. However, every single day Loki proved himself better than that, whether it was by joking with her, helping her out, hugging her when she was scared of her nightmares, or simply not murdering her when he so easily could.

Jane had pulled Darcy aside one day. She had said that with Loki, there was either a harsh reality— he was a broken man, desperate for redemption, who would bring her nothing but pain— or a beautiful lie— a monster pretending to be a man, simply waiting to attack. Darcy disagreed; she saw what was underneath his cold exterior, even if Jane didn't. He was trying to improve himself. She could see it.

Darcy and Loki had spent the day with Jane— the Einstein Rosen Bridge was making some serious progress and would probably be ready for testing in a few months, but that all depended on the strength of Loki's magic and if he was physically able to power the portal device. Currently, he had difficulty just conjuring something from the other room. He had tried to teleport himself from one room to another and ended up almost collapsing. (Darcy had caught him as he had fallen and greatly enjoyed that aspect of the situation).

On a different note, their progress through Midgardian movies and music was verging on impressive. Their journey through music was interesting to say the least; almost everything Darcy had Loki listen to all but insulted him. Every genre from pop to country to metal (she hadn't been too hopeful with those) left Loki with a mildly disgusted look on his face or had him quickly telling her to turn it off _now_. She had finally found some things he liked after a few weeks of attempts: movie scores, symphony pieces, and smooth jazz (the last one to Darcy's displeasure) were the only things that didn't seem to piss him off. She considered it a partial success.

Loki and Darcy watched a movie that Darcy deemed 'a classic' almost every night, occasionally marathoning on series and trilogies like _Lord of the Rings_ and _Harry Potter_. Loki liked the grander adventure stories and easily got bored during the Disney and romantic comedies, but he would sit through them all without a complaint, Darcy noted. She even caught him smiling at one point of _The Princess Bride_. She considered that a major success. All in all, Darcy deemed Loki's adjustment to Earthling customs to be going very well.

One particularly hot Saturday evening after they had gotten home from the lab, Darcy felt sweaty and gross and just wanted to take a cold shower and then spend the rest of the night in minimal clothing, possibly in front of the open freezer. Loki had said that the heat didn't bother him, but she caught him fidgeting uncomfortably and wiping away sweat from his forehead a few times. When they got home, it took everything in her for Darcy not to literally crawl to her bathroom, though she did peel off pieces of clothing as she walked. Before she went around the corner, she saw Loki fall onto the couch and pull off his shirt. That in itself was an incentive to stay and not shower yet, but Darcy had other priorities right now.

After finally stripping completely and soaking in the water for a few minutes, Darcy began her usual routine of bathing and loudly singing. Tonight's repertoire consisted of a medley of Broadway songs, "Can You Feel The Love Tonight," and a severely butchered version of Loki's least favorite song of all the ones they listened to, "It's Raining Men."

When she finished, she dressed in booty shorts and one of the smallest T-shirts she owned and headed back out to the living room. Loki was still there sweating on the couch, half naked, sprawled out, and looking somewhat dazed.

Darcy ran some cold water over a washcloth, wrung it out, and slung it through the air from her spot in the kitchen toward the couch in the family room. It hit Loki on the upper chest, causing him to jump a little in surprise.

"Put it on your forehead," Darcy said, pulling a blueberry popsicle from the freezer. "It might help a little with the heat,"

"Thanks," he murmured, complying with her advice. He had his head tilted back and his eyes closed, giving Darcy the full go-ahead to freely ogle.

Darcy sat down beside him on the couch. "You know, it's definitely really hot, but you're acting like we're in an active volcano. It's like ninety-five degrees. Why the dramatics?"

"I don't exactly thrive in heat," he said dryly. He brought his head up and put the cloth on the back of his neck.

"Why not? Is it an Asgardian thing? Because Thor was fine when he—"

"I'm not Thor." Loki snapped.

Darcy paused. "Fine. All right. You're not Thor. I'm just concerned for you. My bad."

Sighing, Loki calmed. "I'm sorry, Darcy. I'll tell you some other time."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"You're not going to die on me, are you?" she asked, unwrapping her popsicle.

"Not likely."

"Well that's good," Darcy said. "I'd hate to have to explain a dead body to the townies. And Jane."

"I'm glad your concerns are well-placed," he said, bending his neck back to angle toward the ceiling again.

"They are," Darcy said, unreservedly looking up and down his chest and stomach.

After a moment, Loki asked, "What was that song you were singing?"

"Excuse me?" Darcy hadn't known Loki could hear her— and if he could hear her today, that meant he could hear her every day.

"You were singing. What was the song?" He looked back up at her. "You're dripping," he commented, glancing at the popsicle in her hand.

"Right." Darcy licked around the base while she thought. "Well, I was singing a few different ones,"

"Near the end. Not the last one, though,"

"How did it go?"

"It was about love. You started out with interacting characters with distinct voices, and then it changed to the actual song,"

"Oh god," she said, realizing what he was talking about. "That's 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight,'" Darcy was horrified he had heard her complete rendition of the song.

"I liked it," Loki surprised her.

"You did?" Darcy said, quickly taking the chance to jump away from the topic of her singing. She was relaxing back into the conversation.

"Yeah. It was enjoyable. We should listen to it the next time we spend a lot of time on music."

Darcy snorted and propped her feet up so that they were resting on his knees. "You're a nerd."

"Your arsenal of insults is as formidable as ever," he replied.

"See? Who says stuff like that?"

"Would you like me to just apologize now or keep the conversation going?"

"What, are we playing the question game now?" Darcy sucked the popsicle into her mouth, successfully capturing Loki's attention for a few seconds before he snapped out of it. Darcy mentally fist-bumped.

"That depends. What is the question game?"

"It's when you talk, but you can only ask questions," she replied, licking a line of melted popsicle that was escaping down her hand.

"If that's how you play, then didn't you just lose?" Loki smiled his dumb smug smile.

"Suck my dick," she replied to that.

"Eloquent," Loki commented. As Darcy went to put the popsicle in her mouth again, Loki jerked his leg suddenly, causing her to hit herself on the nose with it.

Darcy gasped at the sensation, but immediately went for revenge. She hit his cheek with the popsicle in one quick move. It hadn't been enough to hurt him (she doubted she could hurt him if she tried), but it was enough to get the sticky blue liquid on him.

Loki looked over at her with a look of shock that Darcy took as a dare to do it again. When she reached around to hit him on the other cheek, Loki grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her on him, reaching for the popsicle while at the closer angle. Darcy managed to keep it from him by rolling them both so that he was lying on top of her and her one arm was hanging dramatically off to the side. They both were struggling, Loki was smiling widely, and Darcy was laughing uncontrollably.

They both paused suddenly, looking at each other in their extremely intimate position. They looked at each other like they were both suddenly aware of the other's existence.

Darcy's breath caught in her throat. Loki's eyes turned absolutely predatory.

Loki suddenly sprung up and left the room, throwing the now room-temperature washcloth at the sink on his way out. He was locked away in his room before Darcy could say another word.

Darcy stood after a moment. She threw the popsicle away, not hungry and definitely not wanting to hold it any longer.

_Our first real moment of intimate contact and Loki all but runs screaming. Figures._

Thinking back on it later that night once she was in bed, Darcy recalled that the position they had ended up in hadn't felt weird or forced or out of place when it had happened: it had felt natural. Like they were supposed to be like that. Like they had done that a thousand times before. What they had done before that was innocent enough: they were just having some fun, wrestling around so that they could get gross popsicle juice on each other.

But Loki had been staring at her while she (not so innocently) ate the popsicle. ('Ate' was a bad word for it. Fellated was much more accurate of a term for what she had purposely been doing).

And Darcy had not so subtly ogled him. She knew he had caught her at some point. He always did.

There had been nothing innocent about the look Loki had given her while he was on top of her. She had thought that he was going to grab her right then and there and make her evening significantly better than what it was, but instead he ran away.

Darcy sighed and rolled over in bed. She had "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" stuck in her head, of course. _Wow. This is just sad. First, I get rejected. Now, I have the most opposite song stuck in my head. Stupid brain. Stupid Loki. Stupid heat. Stupid popsicle. Fuck everything._

Darcy fell asleep a little while later, sprawled out on top of the covers, blaming all of her troubles on blue popsicles and Norse gods.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys, it's been a while. Sorry 'bout that.**

**So, to keep this short and sweet: thank you to all my supporters, you guys are the bomb dot com. Also a big thanks to samantha-shakespeare, my beta extraordinaire. Four for you, Sam, for putting up with my shit and being lovely while doing so.**

**Also, this chapter is kind of a lot bigger and is very mushy/angsty/feely-esque. So there's that.**

**And... go.**

* * *

At first, it had begun in flashes. Loki's dreams were ever-shifting, showing mere glimpses or slight sensations.

A silent gasp upon Darcy's face as she lay beneath him.

Nails raking down his back.

Darcy straddling him and throwing her head back in pleasure.

As time went on, his dreams became more detailed. A flash became a moment. Sounds incorporated themselves; her moans alone did more for him than any woman on Asgard ever had. Not that Loki had ever heard Darcy make a noise like that in reality. Of course, he had never seen her naked either, so his subconscious was coming up with all sorts of things on its own accord.

Loki cursed himself for his perverted dreams. It was beyond inappropriate; they were friends and coworkers. She was letting him live with her and in exchange he was helping build the bridge to Asgard. It was nothing more than that. It couldn't be any more than that.

As he thought in the very back of his mind how damning his imaginings were, he dreamt of her coming down on him and screaming his name. The scene changed and Darcy was underneath him, holding onto his shoulders, gasping and moaning and begging him to go faster, harder, deeper, _please._ And then Loki suddenly woke up gasping for air and drenched in sweat and extremely aroused.

Loki stared at the ceiling blankly. His hand lay on his stomach, rising and falling with each breath. In the next room over, he heard sudden movement; Darcy briefly walked around her room before entering the bathroom and turning on the shower.

_Why is she taking a shower at three in the morning?_ Moments later, he heard why she had decided to use the noise of the running water. Well, at least he wouldn't have to make up what her noises sound like again.

It was a coincidence. It had to be. Either it was a huge coincidence, or Loki was in denial. He wasn't sure which he'd rather it be.

The next morning, Loki woke a while before Darcy and decided to make breakfast for the two of them. In his weeks there, she had taught him how to make a variety of things, from pancakes (surprisingly good for Midgardian food) to recipes Asgard would seriously need to consider adopting.

"Darcy, I made breakfast!" he called out after he finished cooking.

He could hear her rummaging around in her room loudly for a few seconds and then the sound of her door opening and Darcy walking down the hall.

"You got a haircut!" Darcy declared as soon as he walked into the room. Loki glanced up, as if to see the top of his own head, but then cracked the smallest of smiles.

"Yes. I was hoping something like this would better fit in with the styling's of Midgardian men,"

"Oh," She seemed disappointed over something.

"What is it?"

She glanced down at the ground before returning her eyes to his. "It's nothing. I just liked it a little longer,"

Loki's grin grew just a little. He put one hand up, snapped his fingers, and his hair was back to normal. Slightly longer than what it had been, actually; at this length it was starting to curl out on the lower part, but still looked fairly respectable. Again, he was setting himself back a few days with using magic. For some reason he didn't care.

Darcy's smile was instant and Loki felt elated over the fact that he was the one to cause it.

"Better?" he asked.

Darcy's smile and eyes brightened as she walked over to him. Loki did nothing but watch with a small smile as she examined his new hair, squinting her eyes here and tilting her head there.

"Much better."

Loki noticed how close she was standing to him, as if he wasn't a threat to her, as if he couldn't kill her without a second thought. It reminded him of the situation they were in a few days before; Loki had pulled her on top of him and Darcy had pulled him on top of her right back. Loki had panicked and ran, leaving Darcy there confused and probably frustrated with him. Then again, with his usual behavior and comments, when wasn't Darcy angry with him?

It occurred to Loki that Darcy trusted him and that she knew he wouldn't hurt her. As if to make the whole situation that much more ironic, she reached out and ran a hand through his hair, her eyes mesmerized by the new length. He knew she didn't mean this romantically, but he cursed himself when he realized he wished she had.

"Darcy," he warned, eyes darkening. Fear flashed in her eyes, followed immediately by what appeared to be uncertainty.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her confusion over his coldness stinging him.

"You do not fear me," He had meant to say it as a question, but it came out as a statement.

"Should I?" she scoffed.

"I am not of this world. I am foreign, alien, dangerous, a _monster_, and yet you keep me around as a pet."

"Bullshit," she laughed. Now Loki raised an eyebrow, curious as to where she was going with this. She continued, "There are so many things wrong with that. First off: I sure, you're from Asgard. And sure, you're dangerous. Most people are. But you're not a monster. You sent the thingy—"

"The Destroyer,"

"Yeah, the thingy, to destroy this town because you were trying to have a pissing contest with your brother. It's understandable."

"I threatened your life and the life of your friends and coworkers, and you say it's understandable?"

"Yeah, nobody really got hurt. Just some pretty intense property damage. But you keep saying _I'm a monster_, _I'm a monster_, and I'm just not buying it. Anyone who can make it through the end of _Moulin Rogue_ with me as I sob in the corner is definitely not a monster."

Loki was taken aback by her logic. She accepted him for how he treated her and his actual personality, not from what he was or what he had done or his parentage or abilities. Loki could barely contain a grin.

Darcy continued, "I'm on to you." She poked a pointed finger hard into his chest. "I see right through your 'Prince of Darkness' exterior. Don't give me any of that bullshit."

"I prefer 'God of Mischief,' but Prince of Darkness is definitely something I could get used to," Loki's smirk was pure mischief. Darcy had shifted the conversation to a more positive tone, and for that Loki was grateful.

"Listen, buddy; Earth or Midgard or whatever already has a Prince of Darkness, and unless you're willing to one-up biting the head off a bat in front of a crowd of people, that position is taken until further notice."

"How would one go about 'one-uping' that?"

"I don't know," Darcy said. "Maybe biting the head off a person? Oh god, that's disgusting, nevermind. Maybe like popping out somebody's eye in front of a bunch of people or something like that. Something not quite as disgusting as live decapitation. Although, live eye-popping sounds really gross too."

"Your imagination is fascinating, as always,"

"Just trying to keep up with the intelligence I'm so often surrounded by. Jane and Erik, now you; imagination is all a girl has when in the presence of a truck-load of geniuses."

"You are plenty intelligent," Loki assured. "I wouldn't associate myself with you if you weren't. My patience is not that accommodating."

"Nah, you're the poster-boy for patience. Patience, and down-to-Earth-ness. No irony intended." Darcy wore the mischievous smile now. "And I thought you were only hanging around for my body."

She had gone from toying to accusing to joking to flirting, all within two minutes. Loki's head was spinning in the best possible way. He wanted to kiss her, praise her, and push her against a wall all at the same time, but he held back. Loki knew Darcy wanted to play with fire, not burn herself. But he could definitely play back.

"That is one of the many perks," he replied slyly.

"Yes, and another one is my amazing cooking, but I see you made the food today. What's for breakfast?" she said, changing the topic yet again. She was a tempest of a woman.

"Pancakes," he informed her, turning back to the now long-cold breakfast he had made.

"Nice. It looks like you're getting a lot better at it, and you weren't bad before,"

"Thanks. I don't think these will be quite at their potential, considering how long they've been left sitting."

"Well, let's just heat them up then," Darcy walked past him into the kitchen toward the cabinets. She looked back at him briefly with a silly smile. "You know, I think this morning is a special occasion. It is Friday, after all. We should use the nice plates."

"Whatever you want," Loki replied, returning her smile.

"Sweet. I'll warm the pancakes up in the oven, too."

Darcy began getting out different things they'd need for their breakfast. As she did so, Loki simply watched her with an absent smile.

If a few months ago he could see himself now, he wouldn't have believed he was viewing the same man. He was looking at a woman— one as unusual, unpredictable, and utterly _human_ as Darcy— with a feeling he couldn't recognize.

He definitely wanted her; that was not a question. Loki had caught her staring a few times and she had flirted with him on occasion, but that was just her personality. He assumed, anyway.

There was also the situation with the shared dreaming. That had been happening more and more frequently (sometimes happening several times a night), and he had often caught Darcy waking suddenly at the same times he had. Loki wasn't dense enough to believe that was coincidence, but he wasn't sure if he believed the alternative either.

Darcy bent over at the waist to pull a something out of a lower cabinet, causing Loki to draw in a sharp breath. What had happened to him? He had never been this consumed with desire. He had had different women from the palace before, but only whenever he occasionally felt like it or was bored. Loki had never been one for love or lust or whatever he was feeling with Darcy. He had never been desperate for one woman in particular and the sentiment felt foreign yet utterly beautiful to him.

Darcy reached for what she considered the 'nice plates' on the top shelf, but was several inches too short to get them.

"Allow me," Loki stepped forward.

"Thanks," Darcy said, moving slightly. She hadn't moved over enough for him to consider her out of the way, and Loki decided to go with it.

As he reached up, he stood behind Darcy and put his hand on her waist, (seemingly) to steady himself. She let out a squeak in surprise and Loki thought he had actually scared her, but as he put the plates on the counter she relaxed into his touch.

"Anything else you need?" he asked, playing innocent. He did not remove his hand or move back at all.

She took a moment to respond. "No, I think that's it," Her voice was higher than usual.

After that, their breakfast was significantly less sensual, minus the parts when Darcy was purposely being unnecessarily suggestive with her maple syrup. Loki figured it was her way at getting back at him for touching her waist.

When she got up to shower before going into work, Loki slyly checked out her figure as she walked, but apparently not slyly enough. Darcy turned her head to look at him as she reached her door, and just before going into her room she winked at him.

_I think I love her, _Loki mused to himself. The thought absolutely floored him. _Allfather help me. I love her._

* * *

A few days after a particularly fun dream starring Loki had been cut dramatically short, Darcy lay in bed thinking over the weird dreams she'd been having lately. At first there had been nothing more than a feeling; when she had awoken from a dreamless sleep, she somehow simply was reminded of Loki. She had felt his aura in her dream, as if she had actually dreamed about him but had forgotten the dream upon waking up.

After that, she had the nightmares. When she would wake up in the middle of the night, she would always hear Loki waking up too. It was as if the two of them were having the same dreams and waking up at the same time, which was hella fucked up in Darcy's opinion.

From there, the dreams grew dramatically sexual. No kiss or foreplay in between; one day she fell asleep and had been thrust into little bursts of sexytimes, ranging from passionate and tender to downright barbaric (if this sexed-up dream version of Loki was anything like the real Loki, he had some serious dominance fixations).

Darcy kind of felt ashamed of her visualizations; she enjoyed her friendship with Loki and didn't want to jeopardize that. Sure, she had a little crush on him. It would've been impossible not to— she was only human, and he was, well, not. However, there was a huge difference between occasionally daydreaming about kissing him and dreaming about wild hardcore NC-17 sex with him every night. She knew that he had little to no magic and therefore could not read her mind, but the thought of Loki ever finding out about her dreams paralyzed her. What would he say? He'd probably laugh at her or find her pitiful. Pathetic little Darcy wants to fuck Prince Loki of Asgard.

On the other hand, if they were actually consistently having the same dreams, then that had the potential to be sufficiently awkward. Every night, the dreams grew more detailed. It started out like a steamy montage, but now it was a full-on sex scene, complete with sights, noises, and sensations. Since Loki's arrival and the weird dreams beginning, Darcy's dreams became extremely realistic, to the point she sometimes thought they were actually happening. The nightmares of course had been a problem, but the sex dreams were downright enjoyable. Maybe Loki had some of his magic back and was just messing with her.

_That_ particular idea had been crushed the night she had gotten quite verbal and very loud during her sexed-up dream and Loki had come into her bedroom thinking she was having a nightmare again. Facing Loki while she was that turned on was more than awkward, considering she was trying to hide her lust from him. When she had turned on the light, though, Loki had had an unreadable expression, his pupils were blown to the point of lacking their normal green ring, and he tried (unsuccessfully) to inconspicuously block his crotch from her view. She had caught sight of his obvious arousal through the pants he slept in and it only served to rouse her up more. But Darcy pushed that out of her head.

During the day, their relationship was almost normal. They joked with each other, occasionally bickered, and Darcy was even beginning to go as far as considering him her best friend. They spent almost all of their waking hours together, at work or at home. Darcy was, for the most part, able to push out the emotions she felt at night during her dreams, but sometimes it carried over. She knew he caught her staring at him with a dazed expression of unadulterated want, but she'd always play it off. It was only a matter of time before he called her out on it.

Sometimes, Darcy would catch Loki staring at her. She was sure that she didn't catch him all the time, considering how sneaky he was, but when she did, she'd make sure he liked what he saw, whether it be by over-sexualizing eating or winking at him or wearing slightly tighter clothes. She still rocked oversized sweaters and jeans ninety percent of the time, but on days Darcy decided to actually follow Jane's newly introduced idea of a "professional dress code," skirts that were shorter and tighter made their occasional appearances.

_This is downright shameful, _Darcy thought as she got dressed after showering. _Well, that's what he gets for touching my waist like that and staring at my ass when I walked away._

Loki was going to be in for a surprise. Darcy just hoped he'd like it.

* * *

As he absently looked over some of Jane's older formulas in the lab later that day, Loki thought back to his early childhood, when his magical abilities were still raw and unformed and his dreams would sometimes affect his mother or Thor. Those inter-connected dreams never made it past the stage of a simple presence, like the first ones with Darcy. He had never had a connected dream with content in it before her. He refused to think about what that meant.

Loki pulled himself back into his work. Planning for and designing the portal proved an excellent distraction time and time again when Darcy paraded around the lab with his mindset where it was. She would constantly claim that it was too hot and would dress in ways that Loki simultaneously greatly appreciated yet really wanted to ignore. Today, when she came out of her room when they were to go over to the lab, he nearly fell to his knees in front of her. He cursed his own mind for being so primitive and sexual when it came to Darcy; she had every right to dress and act how she wanted, but he wished he could convey to her what she was doing to him.

_Focus, _he told himself. _Keep your thoughts off her. _

As he thought this, Darcy walked up and put a small stack of papers beside him.

"Here's Jane's newer blueprints and stuff," she said absently. As she moved to walk away, her wrist slid lightly against his arm. His skin became heated where she touched and a slight shiver went down his spine. Loki immediately sent his mind elsewhere just to keep himself upright.

The portal device Loki and Jane were building was to be nowhere near impressive. It was to look like a three-foot circular object with wires hanging off and a small spinning part partially visible throughout. It would be no Bifröst, but it would get the job done. Loki would have to use his own magic to the extent of it completely draining him again. Once the three of them were in Asgard, though, he would have the aide of the healers to help him recover faster. That is, if he wasn't condemned from Asgard as soon as he returned.

Loki planned to go to the Allfather upon his return and ask him for forgiveness; he wanted to show his father how he had changed while on Earth. Loki was beginning to doubt his desire for the throne; after his dramatic failure, just returning to Asgard would be daunting. The Asgardians would take years to accept him back into their society. They'd never take him as their king, and that was without the knowledge of his true parentage. Without any doubt, being their ruler would never happen. Loki would never sit on a throne.

And maybe he didn't want to.

Maybe the only thing Loki wanted was here with him already.

This realization hit Loki all at once and he internally smacked himself for not realizing it before: he didn't want the throne or to be seen as better than Thor or even to destroy the race of monsters he was apparently from; what he wanted was Darcy. His savior, his liberator, his friend, his _love_.

As it was, Loki was still connected to her through their dreams on an extremely intimate level. He still didn't want to abuse the trust she felt with him, and he, more than anything, didn't want to hurt her, physically or emotionally. Loki was fairly sure in this moment that in his entire existence he had never been this conflicted over anything. He knew for a fact that he loved Darcy—the way she argued with him, her constant enthusiasm, her quirks, her smile, her eyes, her _everything_—but he was completely unsure of her feelings for him. She certainly wanted him to notice her, but beyond that she was a mystery he wanted more than anything to solve.


	10. Chapter 10

**See end for warnings if you need warnings for things. Be wary, for there are spoilers. **

**So, this chapter is a lot longer. Like, fourteen-pages-total-in-Microsoft-Word longer. Also, it's angsty and emotional and stuff happens. Hope you like it.**

* * *

Shower-time was the best time, as far as Darcy was concerned.

When she showered, Darcy had this habit of pretending she was a Broadway singer or a rock star. Loki had told her that he could hear her when she sang, but that didn't slow her down one bit. If anything, she sang louder. Either it would annoy him, which would be funny, or he'd enjoy it, which would be pretty cool too.

Darcy stepped out of the shower when she finished, wrapped up in a towel, and dried her hair, humming the entire time.

After getting dressed for the day, Darcy continued her Saturday morning routine by going out into the kitchen and starting up breakfast. Well, at this point in the day she should really call it lunch, but that didn't change the fact she was making a breakfast feast of muffins and Poptarts (to tide her over until the muffins) for herself and Loki.

Speaking of the Asgardian, just as she walked into the kitchen, Darcy heard Loki stumble out of his room.

"Good morning, sunshine," Darcy called as she started getting out ingredients.

Loki murmured something unintelligible in response, clearly still half-asleep. His hair was all mussed up—which Darcy greatly enjoyed—and his eyes were heavy-lidded.

"Sleeping Beauty awakens," she commented after watching him bump his hip against the island counter as he walked and rubbed his eyes at the same time.

Loki gave her a look (they hadn't watched that movie yet and the reference was probably lost on him) but didn't comment.

"Do you want help cooking?" he offered. His voice was groggy and his words were almost-but-not-quite formed.

"If you helped me cook right now, we'd burn down the building," she said, turning away and starting up her baking process.

"So, what do you want to do this afternoon?" Darcy asked as she worked.

"Whatever you would like to do." Loki said, leaning against the island. He had a glass of orange juice now, but she hadn't seen him get it out.

"Did you just use magic?" She looked at him with a raised brow and her hands on her hips.

"Yeah," he said defensively. He hopped up to sit on the counter and took a sip of juice. "I believe I am at the point where it won't really affect me anymore. I just shouldn't use magic again for a couple of days now, but a little bit at a time is good."

"You're sure?" she asked.

"Of course I am."

"Of course you are. Of course." Darcy turned away and started messing with different utensils, doing her best to not show him how annoyed she was with his stupid assurance and confidence and _of course._

"What is it now?" Loki said, his tone dancing between concerned and annoyed.

Darcy took a deep breath to hold herself together; Loki had a special way of being able to make her really pissed by doing so little. He was utterly infuriating, arrogant, and had the ability to strike a nerve within her as easily as breath. _And for some reason I still love being around him._

"Darcy," His tone was softer now. She heard him put the glass on the counter, hop down, and walk up behind her in some non-sexual version of the day before. He put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry for how that sounded. Will you tell me what is upsetting you?"

Darcy sighed heavily. It wasn't this particular instance that was the problem; it was their constant fighting that was grating on her. He was no walk in the park, but neither was she. Darcy was annoyed by him at every turn while Loki could get offended by the littlest thing; what the two of them needed, as cliché as it was, was communication.

"I just— I would really appreciate it if from here on out we could be completely honest with each other."

Loki dropped his hand and turned away, walking across the room as he spoke. "You're sharing your home with the God of _Lies, _darling. I don't know what you expect—"

"No." Darcy said, turning to him and cutting him off, "I'm rooming with _you_. And as roommates and friends, I think it'd be good for us to be open with each other."

Loki had walked to the sink and was now rinsing out his cup and taking an exceedingly long time with it, probably more interested in not facing Darcy than anything else. "What do you want me to say, then? I'm not hiding anything from you, if that's what you're suggesting. We don't spend enough time apart for there to be anything to hide."

"I have the dreams too," Darcy blurted before she could stop herself.

The cup Loki had been holding shattered in his hand, the sound of breaking glass filling the room. Loki had frozen in place and it looked like he wasn't even breathing.

"So you know what I'm talking about?" Darcy continued. Looking around him, she could see that his hand was bleeding from the broken glass.

"Which dreams?"

"Loki, your hand…"

"It'll heal. What dreams are you talking about?"

"Can we look at each other when we talk or do I have to look at the back of your head for this conversation?" Darcy said, crossing her arms and sticking out a hip to show her protest.

After a few seconds of hesitation, Loki turned to face her. He was tense, but he relaxed some when they made eye contact.

"Ok." Darcy said. "The dreams. I have dreams literally every night, and I know that you have them too. We wake up in the middle of the night at exactly the same time, and I'm pretty sure that our dreams have the same _context_, so to speak. It was like nothingness, and then it was nightmares, and now it's… sex dreams. I know we have the same sex-filled dreams, and this is me coming clean and acknowledging it."

"And you're just ok with it?" Loki asked. Darcy glanced at his hand; blood was spiraling around his wrist from a deep wound on his palm. He seemed to not even notice the cut, though he held his hand up so that all of the blood went down his arm and onto his shirt instead of onto the floor.

"I mean, I don't really mind it. The nightmares needed to stop, and they did, and now it's all good. I'm just glad we can talk about it and not be in denial with each other,"

"My mind is literally invading yours as we both sleep and projecting my heightened emotions onto you, or vice versa, and that's 'all good' with you?"

Seeing Loki this bothered by the situation was affecting Darcy more than she cared to admit. Telling Loki about the dreams had been a mistake, she now realized. He had reacted with anger toward the situation and Darcy just didn't want to look at him right now. At this point, she just really wanted to leave the room and not be around Loki for a long time; looking at him reminded her of the great way she felt in her dreams and the constant pain she felt in reality. "Yeah. It's all good, like I said." Darcy turned from him and walked toward the front door. "I think I'm going to go for a walk. You should do something for your hand."

She was gone before Loki could say another word.

* * *

Loki hadn't even been awake for a half an hour yet. He had walked out into the kitchen, drank some orange juice, and managed to anger Darcy to the point of causing her to leave the apartment, all within minutes of waking up.

Darcy had said that she had the dreams too. She had confirmed what Loki already knew as fact, but her honesty about it still shocked him. She was all right with his mind affecting hers; in fact, she seemed to embrace it, or at the very least accept it.

Loki cleaned his hand and his body took over from there; though he didn't have a lot of his magical abilities, he was still a god and his body could still heal quickly. The scar would be gone in a little under two hours.

After cleaning the broken glass from the sink and the small amount of blood that had gotten onto the floor, Loki changed his shirt and fell onto the couch in their living room.

Darcy wanted honesty. There were a great many things Loki wasn't honest with her about, the first thing coming to mind the fact that he wasn't truly an Asgardian. He didn't want to tell her that not only to save him from the shame of it, but also to keep her from having to know that she was around a monster.

If he waited for long to tell her, she'd either drift away from him and no longer care, or she'd be angry with him for not telling her sooner. He couldn't tell her now, though, but he also couldn't go on getting upset over things that triggered his memory of his father or parentage. A decision had to be made; he had to come clean, or he would have to not let Darcy see what bothered him.

This all seemed redundant to Loki; his constant conflict between being honest with Darcy and sparing her from pain was wearing on his nerves. He truly wanted her to know; more than that, he wanted to tell her, for her to comfort him like he hoped she would, and for her to treat him the same way afterward. The drop of poison in his mind keeping him from telling her was his fear of her _not _treating him the same after. He would prefer her to be ok with it and he could deal with her running and screaming, though it would hurt; what Loki feared the most was Darcy saying that she wasn't bothered by the fact he was a monster when she actually was. If she was afraid of him and lied about it, Loki would be destroyed.

It had started raining a few minutes before, but Loki didn't notice until the loud clap of thunder woke him from his trance.

* * *

Darcy sat with her legs crossed across from Jane at the table in the lab. After walking aimlessly for a few hours, Darcy had decided to visit Jane, who had ended up getting Darcy to confess why she looked so upset. Darcy had just finished telling her everything that had happened that day, save the whole dream confession. Darcy felt that that was a conversation for another day.

"Well," Jane began, "He obviously cares. He's a deeply emotional person; I've noticed that much. He doesn't like showing when something bothers him because he likes being Mr. Invincible, but a lot of things really bother him, like you said. I just don't think he's ready to bare his soul to you, or anyone, quite yet."

"He doesn't have to _bare his soul_, I just want him to not get bitchy with me," Darcy crossed her arms and pouted.

"And as for you," Jane continued her deductions, "There's a reason you get annoyed with him so much. I just haven't figured it out yet."

"I get annoyed with him because he's a drama queen who should put trigger warnings on half the things I say or do."

"Yeah, I've noticed that. But, the thing is, he doesn't get as bothered by stuff when anyone else does something. It's just you. It's like whatever his issue is, it's personal to him and it involves you."

"What would anything possibly have to do with me?" Darcy asked, crinkling her nose.

"I think that, whatever his problem is, he doesn't want you to know about it. He cares about your opinion in a way that he could never with anyone else, and he's afraid to let you see that," Jane said.

"What makes me so special?"

"Well that's pretty obvious, Darce," Jane said with a small, understanding smile. "He obviously has feelings for you, and strong ones at that. He trusts you, and he wants to protect you."

"Stop it, Jane," Darcy said, but she couldn't help smiling too. "Don't turn this into cliché sleepover-talk. I'm trying to have a serious conversation for once."

"I am too. You don't usually see how Loki looks at you, but I do. You two take turns staring at each other in the lab. It's like you forget I'm there,"

"Looking at each other has nothing to do with anything. We can look at each other all we want—"

"Darcy," Jane cut her off. "You know better than anyone how I am usually the _last _person to catch on to anything romantic. If I'm seeing something between you two, there is _definitely _something there."

Outside, the rain was coming down like a hurricane. Thunder shook the lab, causing some of the devices to shake and rattle. Jane sighed lightly.

"You still miss him," Darcy commented more than asked.

Jane murmured in response. "It's been months. I only knew him for a couple days. I feel so silly,"

"But…" It was Darcy's turn to smile knowingly.

"I am a scientist. I don't believe in fate or soul mates. But, it just felt—feels— special. Thor looked at me the same way Loki looks at you. Maybe Asgardian women are all awful and these guys just fell for whatever girl they met first, but I don't think so. I think we're both lucky and really unlucky at the same time."

Darcy sunk in her seat and sighed dramatically. "Let's just marry each other and save ourselves the trouble of worrying over these Asgardian princesses,"

Jane laughed. "Tempting offer, but we've got a portal to build,"

"If you insist," Darcy said. She stood up and stretched her arms over her head. "I think I'm going home. I feel like this storm's only going to get worse,"

"Do you want me to go with you?" Jane asked, standing as well.

"No, I'll be ok," Darcy said. "Thanks, though,"

Darcy ran the short way home to avoid getting overly drenched. It was already getting dark; the only light in this rare New Mexico storm were the occasional street lamps and porch lights.

By the time she opened the door to the apartment, her hair and clothes were dripping.

Loki was lying on the couch. From where she stood taking off her shoes, he looked like he was asleep. However, that theory was proven wrong when he turned partially to see her.

Loki opened his mouth to speak but Darcy cut him off. "Before you say anything, I'm going to change my clothes. Hold whatever you're about to say."

Once she was in dry pajamas and her hair was curling wildly as it dried itself, Darcy returned to Loki.

Sitting down beside him on the couch, Darcy curled up so that her back was against his side. He put his arm across the back of the couch to make her more comfortable.

"Sorry about overreacting earlier," Darcy said. "I know I have an issue with prying. We are roommates and friends, and we do have a right to know about each other, but we also have a right to keep things from each other. You don't have to tell me whatever you don't want to share."

"No," Loki said lightly. Loki's slow breathing was lulling. "You deserve to know, and eventually you will. Just not yet."

"I'll hold you to that," Darcy said. She pulled her knees up so that her legs were against her body.

They shared a comfortable silence for a long while, the rain more than filling in the empty spaces. Loki's hand fell so that his arm was around her and his hand rested on her knee and his thumb absently circled patterns there.

"Loki?" she asked quietly, not wanting to ruin the moment but wanting to get this out there.

"Hmm?" He was barely audible; she felt more than heard his response.

"How much longer do you think it'll be before you can power the portal?"

"What, are you eager to get rid of me?" he joked lightly. "About six more weeks, I'd say. And that's just enough time to finish up the design."

Darcy murmured lightly to show she had heard. "Loki?" she asked again a few seconds later.

"Yes?"

"Why do you get mad about cold? It wasn't just that first day you were here; if I mention something about coldness or being too hot, you—" Loki tensed up, "—you get upset. Why? You said you would tell me your big secret later, and that's fine, but you promised back a while that you'd tell me about the cold thing."

"It has to do with the '_big secret_,'" Loki said sternly, starting to stand up. Darcy held onto his arm, pulling him back down beside her.

"Loki, just tell me. I promise I can handle it." Darcy turned and sat on her heels so she could face him.

"It's nothing you need concern yourself over." Loki was practically snarling. Against all of her better judgment, Darcy pushed forward.

"Come on, there's no time like the present. Lay it on me."

Loki didn't even attempt to hide the roll of his eyes. He took a deep breath, trying to reign in his anger. "I'm not going to _lay it on you,_ Darcy. Let's just talk about something else, please,"

"Loki—"

"Darcy," he shot her a warning look before standing up and walking away.

"Come on," she continued anyway, jumping up and following him. "There's so much you haven't told me. I've been completely honest with you about _everything_. You know just about everything about me, but I still don't know that much about you. You're obviously upset a lot of the time, and God knows you get angry at the littlest, seemingly most random things. Just tell me _something_,"

Loki turned to look at her abruptly, causing her to almost run into him. "I do not have to tell you anything. I've told you everything that you need to know, and that's all I will ever tell you if you do not stop this now," Loki rubbed his hand against the back of his neck, like she was literally causing a pain in his neck. _Jackass._

"You keep saying this stuff, like your problems are none of my business. As long as you're living here, as long as we're friends, they'll be my problems too."

Loki scoffed. "You're overstepping, dear. My problems are exactly that: _mine. _I suggest you reevaluate what you consider 'friends' are entitled to as well, because I do not have to tell you anything about myself."

"First off, I _know _you didn't just call me 'dear' in a sarcastic, total dick-move way. Because then you're going to have to add another problem to your huge secret list of problems. Secondly, friends are entitled to each other's problems because friends are supposed to help each other out, even by just listening to each other. Understand?"

"You just said that we had a right to keep things from each other, but now you're saying that 'friends' are 'entitled' to know everything about each other. You need to pick a stance on this issue, _dear_."

Darcy shook her head. "God, you are the most arrogant person I have ever met. Half the time you're Prince Charming, here to save the day from my nightmares, and the other half the time you're a _fucking asshole. _You get angry when I accidentally say something that offends you but you're not willing to tell me _why _you're offended. You need to make a choice: tell me what's wrong or get the fuck over it."

"Be quiet, you insolent girl," Loki snapped. Darcy _really _didn't like the way he said 'girl,' as if she was a child.

"Why? Because you're in denial over what I'm saying, or because you don't want to hear it from me?"

Loki shot a look at her but didn't answer. He turned and started walking away again.

"Oh? Now you're just done with the conversation?" Darcy shrilled. "You think you can just turn away, and that'll be it? I'll just forget about it and walk away too? Well you've got another thing coming, buddy."

He stopped walking but didn't respond to her. He was straight up giving her the cold shoulder.

"You're such a shit, you know that?" Darcy called.

He turned back around to look at her. "And you are an arrogant child!" he finally said, bringing his voice up for the first time.

"At least I'm not immature," she snarled, crossing her arms and holding her ground.

"I'm the immature one between the two of us? Please, Darcy. At least try to make your argument within the realm of possibility,"

"It is in the _realm of possibility_, you douche. And I am the mature one. At least I can handle myself whenever anything bad happens! With you, one little crack in your self-esteem, and you're Mr. Brooding-and-Depressed for the rest of the day,"

"I have dealt with things beyond your imagination, mortal—"

"I'm sure you fucking have. And you know what? I would love to hear about them. But _you _won't tell me anything!"

"It is nothing you need to know about,"

Darcy let out a sudden short shriek of pure anger, turning away from him in the process. "You're unbelievable. If I ask, it's nothing I need to know about. If I don't ask, then I'm ignorant. You need to make up your mind and not be such a drama queen all the time."

"And you need to stop trying to burrow yourself into _my_ personal life."

Darcy spun around to look at him, glaring. Regret flashed through Loki's eyes, but he quickly put his wall back up before anything could be said.

They glared at each other for a painful moment, their eyes piercing into each other's. Darcy wanted to slap him really badly, but for the life of her she couldn't bring herself to actually do it.

"I hate you." Darcy declared.

"If I could bring myself to actually have strong sentiments over a mortal, I'd hate you too." Loki matched her scowl and intensity.

"Oh, you're gonna get it for that one," Darcy warned, now at the point of fuming. He did _not _just use the 'mortals are inferior' thing.

"Yeah? Let me assure you: there is _nothing _you can do that would have any effect on me."

"Oh, really? Is that so?"

"Absolutely not."

"That's what I— wait, wha—" Loki cut her off suddenly as he grabbed her by either side of her face and his mouth claimed hers almost violently, forcing it open and dominating it. Darcy tilted her head, allowing him in, and brought her hands up to touch whatever she could.

This turn of events was quite something, Darcy thought. Deep down, as much as she didn't want to admit it, Darcy thought that this particular fight had been kind of hot. It was as if all of their fighting had been some weird kind of foreplay; half of Darcy wanted to slap Loki and the other half wanted him to just fuck her into the wall already. _I guess our minds were in the same place with that._

Loki's hands grabbed her by the ass, pulling her up onto him. Instinctively Darcy wrapped her legs around Loki's waist, her legs and his hands more than supporting her.

Darcy worked her hands through his hair, pulling on it so hard she was sure it had to be painful, even for him. Loki's hands had to be bruising her as they clawed their way under her shirt and up her back.

Their mouths parted as Darcy gasped for air, taking the small break she desperately needed. Loki moved to her neck and she let him, though she was far from done with him.

After a few moments of Loki biting, licking, and generally ravaging her neck, Darcy bent her neck in a way so that she was the one working on Loki's; she bit him suddenly, not breaking skin but definitely bruising (well, definitely bruising if he could be affected by that sort of thing). Loki let out a hiss in response and smacked her ass hard in retaliation.

Darcy came to the realization that both of them were wearing far too much clothes, and that needed to be remedied _now_. She pulled off his shirt, he pulled off her shirt, and they played with that development for a moment.

Scraping at Loki's shoulders, Darcy closed her eyes, tilted her head back dramatically, and let out a low, wanton moan she was sure would mess with his mind some. Loki responded with licking a thick line between her breasts and then up her neck, ending with a hard bite below her jaw followed by a surprisingly gentle kiss to the same spot.

"Getting tired?" she asked thickly, bringing her head up and eyeing him.

"Not even close," he growled back, and then their rough game of almost-hate sex started all over again.

Loki ripped her bra apart at the front, successfully destroying that piece of clothing. As her breasts popped free, Loki took one in his hand and the other in his mouth, varying in roughness between each side.

"I hate you," Darcy whimpered as Loki worked at her, drawing the breath out of her over and over. In an attempt at payback, Darcy ground against his arousal as hard as she could manage, successfully making Loki falter, if only for a second. She was getting desperate there too, but Loki let out a low moan when she stopped.

"Oh, I hate you too," Loki smiled into her breast and ground right back up into her.

Loki came back up and took her bottom lip into his mouth, roughly sucking and then biting, scraping his teeth over her now-swollen lip. Darcy reached down below herself and grabbed his length through his pants. She felt Loki hesitate as he was taken aback by her action, but then he growled into her neck and grabbed her wrist, pulling her hand back up.

"Not yet," Loki said against her ear, and then took her earlobe into his mouth.

"Fuck you," she said in response. Loki grinned at that but let her comment slide.

Loki managed to remove the rest of their clothing—somewhat violently—without putting Darcy down. She would've found that impressive if she wasn't currently so distracted by the fact that they were completely naked, Darcy's legs wrapped around Loki's waist, their clothes all over the floor around them, and _holy shit we're both naked and about to get it on._

"So you hate me, huh?" Loki snarled into her mouth, their lips brushing.

"More than anything in the world," Darcy said, panting.

"Liar," he breathed, and he took her mouth again, raggedly and forcefully.

Loki's hands clawed needily at her back, frantic and desperate. He sucked her bottom lip into his mouth and bit, light enough not to really hurt but hard enough to make her gasp. As her mouth opened, his tongue dove in swirled around hers, sending electricity down to the pooling heat in her cunt.

Darcy pulled her head back, noting that Loki tried to follow her forward and stay connected at the mouth when she did. "Are you planning on doing anything to me?" Darcy asked, her eyes gleaming. "Because I think you're all talk."

Loki's eyes darkened and his grin widened.

Taking the few steps forward to the couch, Loki put her down surprisingly gently. That tenderness quickly fell away as he sunk to his knees in front of her and spread her legs, putting his hands on either thigh to hold her there.

"Scream for me," Loki said darkly, staring at her like he was about to devour her.

"Make me."

Loki's smile widened. Instead of responding with some comment, he lowered his head and licked a thick line up her cunt, circling her clit when he reached it.

Loki sucked and bit at her for a few minutes, reducing her to a writhing, moaning mess. Darcy tried to free her legs so she could pull him closer, but his hands remained firmly in place. As soon as she felt herself drawing close to release, he would back off while still keeping her aroused. Eventually he let her hook her legs around him, but his hands still held her exactly where he wanted her.

"I hate you," Darcy cried as he kept her from her third potential orgasm. She was desperate for him, literally shaking in anticipation. "Do you hear me? I hate you. Please, just fuck me already,"

Loki paused, bringing his head back a few inches. "I thought I said I wanted you to scream,"

Her heel dug hard into his shoulder, drawing a low moan out of him.

"What, are you a masochist or something?" Darcy panted, eyeing him. When Loki didn't answer, she brought her hand up and finally smacked him across the face. His head turned with the blow; he had honestly been surprised by it.

When Loki looked back at her, his eyes were charged and full of intent. He dove forward, his hands plunging under her and pulling her up against him as their mouths connected again, searching and pleading. As it was, Loki was on his knees in front of the couch and in between Darcy's spread legs. This position put her higher up than him, which she used to her advantage. She pulled at his hair and angled his head so that his neck was tilted up and she could capture his mouth. Loki's hands grabbed at her back, scratching just hard enough to walk the line between pain and pleasure.

Darcy separated them. "I've waited long enough, Loki. You have one minute to get inside of me before I finish this myself."

"As much as I would love to see that," Loki drew out, but her expression stopped him. "Where?"

"Anywhere. The floor. The couch. The wall. The kitchen table. Just _do it already_,"

Loki didn't need to be told twice. Picking her up, he made like he was going to the bedroom but apparently got impatient on the way. When she felt her back hit up against his bedroom door, Loki kissed her cheek chastely and entered her slowly.

Darcy let out a low groan and tilted her head back as she adjusted to his length. Once he knew she was adapted, he began sliding in and out of her. The rhythm was too slow for Darcy; she wasn't going to let him torture her again.

"Faster, Loki. Please," she moaned into his ear, pleading him forward.

Loki complied, but it was still not enough. She was close, but she needed something else to push her spiraling over the edge. As if he could tell she was still desperate for more, he changed the angle slightly and pounded into her harder. He was hitting exactly the right spot inside of her, and within three thrusts she was finally screaming for him.

"Loki," she cried, digging her nails into his shoulder. She was so close, and judging by the frantic way he was thrusting into her, he was too.

Darcy tilted her head and bit down on his shoulder as she came, tightening around his cock. Partially through her climax, Loki thrust one final time and spilled himself into her, sighing heavily against her neck as he did.

The two of them stayed still for a moment. Darcy's legs went limp and the only thing supporting her up against the door was Loki's equally exhausted body.

When he got up enough energy, Loki opened the door and carried her to his bed. He tried his best to put her down gently, but ended up all but collapsing on top of her.

When Loki was eventually able to roll off of her, the two of them breathed heavily, both completely spent. They almost immediately fell asleep, legs still tangled and Loki's arm around Darcy's midsection, holding her close to him like he was afraid she'd drift away while they slept.

Neither of them dreamt that night.

* * *

**Warning: they gon' fuck **

**Endnote: This has nothing to do with anything and is kind of dumb, but I thought I'd share anyway. The last part of this chapter (starting when Darcy gets back to the apartment) kind of reminds me of/was inspired from Ed Sheeran's 'Give Me Love.' So there's that. **

**Also, this is my first go at a hardcore sex scene/hate sex/whatever happened here. Please be gentle with your comments if you decide to drop a review. Thank.**


	11. Chapter 11

Loki woke up to the sounds of the rainstorm finishing its wrath outside, only occasional rumbles of thunder still shaking the house. There was a peaceful aura to the room, Loki thought; the light rain and silence of the house fit well together, and coupled with the light breathing of the two of them, it was fantastic.

When Loki had carried Darcy and himself to bed the night before, they had fallen sideways across it and slept that way on top of the covers. At some point in the night, Darcy had curled up into him and Loki had wrapped his arms around her protectively. They were still in that position now, Loki tightly spooning Darcy as the morning greeted them.

Darcy shivered slightly against him. Wanting to move them both so that he could tuck them under the covers and get her warmer, Loki started to lean up, but Darcy held onto his arm and let out a quiet moan-like noise in her sleep. Smiling, Loki fell back beside her and pulled her even closer to him. She was still wearing her glasses, he noticed, so he reached up, slowly slid them off her face, and put them on the table beside the bed.

There was a lightness to Loki's heart that felt unfamiliar to him, but somehow it all felt extremely right. He was supposed to be here, in this spot, with Darcy. She was his purpose; his wonderful, amazing, magnificent purpose.

Darcy began to stir, stretching out her limbs and spine like a cat. Turning her head, she looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Good morning," she purred, nuzzling closer to him.

"Morning," Loki brought one hand down to lightly rest on her thigh, circling gently on the outer part of her leg.

Darcy moved and rolled onto her back, bending her legs up toward the ceiling. Her hair was spread around her on the bed like fire. Loki skimmed his hand up and down her outer thigh, just aching to touch her.

"We certainly had quite the night, huh?" she began. "I'm half-afraid to move my legs too much, 'cause I know I'll feel the burn. That was pretty hardcore; you managed to tire me out and make me sore with— what? Just one go? That's impressive. But hey, you are a god,"

As she talked, Loki simply smiled and reveled in the sound of her voice and feel of her skin.

"What are you thinking about?" Her question caught him off guard. He looked to her, seeing her staring expectantly with her pale blue eyes.

Before he could answer, Darcy sat up and practically sprinted across the room. "Hold that thought; I am about to pee myself," she said as she walked out of the room and down the hall, leaving Loki lying on the bed alone. "Oh my _god_!" he heard a moment later from a few feet down the hall, causing him to sit up quickly in alert.

"Are you all right?" Loki called out.

"I feel like I just went extreme-horseback riding! My thighs are on fire! And all these bruises; how'd I get them _there_? I don't even remember— wait. That's right. But anyways: this is your fault. I should've bitten you harder and made it equal."

"I'm sorry. Do you need anything from me, love?" Loki answered.

"Love? Are we using pet names now, _sweetie_?" She was walking toward her room again, her voice growing more distant.

"Only if you want to, sweetheart," Loki answered before hearing her door hurriedly being shut.

Loki rolled onto his back into the same position Darcy had just been in. He found himself so amazingly content; he hadn't even realized he was smiling.

When Darcy returned, she was wearing her undergarments and had pulled back her hair. She (gingerly) sat cross-legged on the bed beside him and pulled him by the arm into a sitting position.

"Come on," she said, pulling him up. "I thought of something I can teach you,"

"What is it?" he asked, sitting across from her, mirroring her.

"It's a game. I promise you'll like it. It's all about anticipating your partner's thoughts and moves,"

"I didn't think we'd start again this early, but if you insist—"

"Not like that, perv. Your _game _partner. You have to guess what they're thinking and try to outsmart them. Here, give me your hand,"

She took his hand and brought it up, holding it in a weird manner with both of their thumbs sticking up.

"It's called a thumb war. We move our thumbs around and try to hold each other down, like wrestling,"

"And this is a game you consider fun?" Loki asked, eyebrow raised.

"Well, it's not un-fun. It's something to do," She brought her thumb around wide and grabbed at his at the base, trying to pull it down against their hands. "Oh, come on. If you weren't like a rock, I would've had you. You need to be more flexible with it,"

"If I did that, you'd win. Aren't I supposed to pin your thumb down instead of let you get me?" He brought his thumb around in the same move Darcy had tried to pull, and easily trapped her.

"Cheater,"

"I played exactly by your rules and methods, darling,"

She shifted on the bed and started to say something, but hissed in pain instead. "Oh, god. That's going to be something to get used to," She brought her hands to her thighs and started rubbing, using her fingers to work at the tight muscle. Loki brought his hands forward and took her hands' place, working the muscles that were aching because of him.

"Oh, my. Are you trying to seduce me, Loki Odinson?" Darcy asked, wriggling her eyebrows. Loki looked at his position; stark naked, and leaning forward and massaging Darcy's thighs. It certainly was a suggestive position, though Loki had meant it in an innocent enough way.

"Those weren't my intentions, but I'm adaptable."

"My, my. Now that we're… doing whatever it is we're doing, we certainly are very sexual. Is everything going to be one big innuendo now?"

"That all depends, darling—" Loki squeezed her thighs hard, "—on how far you're willing to go,"

Darcy's eyes reflected several emotions, one after the other: amusement, delight, and then pure lust.

"Sunday morning, not even nine yet," Darcy commented, resting her hands on top of his as they stopped on her inner thighs. "You might just be the best decision I've ever made."

They met in the middle, all mouth and tongue and hands. Soon Loki was laying her back and taking her slowly, making her scream all over again.

* * *

A few hours after Loki had simultaneously gone to great lengths to distract her from the pain in her thighs and made the pain all the worse, Darcy stood in the kitchen, drinking water after popping a few painkillers. She could already feel the ache fading, but it was still a beautiful reminder of what gave her the pain.

Darcy went back into Loki's bedroom and leaned against the doorframe. He was lounging on the bed, reading and now thankfully wearing pants. With him being a well-endowed guy, it was distracting and arousing to have Loki just hanging out naked. One of the many good things about the new development in their relationship was that they no longer had to get fully dressed; even with the air conditioning, New Mexico was hot and fewer clothes greatly improved the experience for everyone.

Loki looked up at her and smiled. "You coming, dear?"

Darcy walked over and climbed into bed next to him, laying so that her back was up against his side.

"I think I'm liking this whole roommate-lovers thing. It's like two-in-one; we get to be best friends _and_ have awesome sex whenever."

"I wholeheartedly agree," Loki said. She heard him but his book down just before the lamp beside him turned out and Loki shifting to lie down.

Darcy felt arms wrap around her waist and Loki's lips trace along her shoulder. She nestled back against him, making a small humming noise that she had noticed Loki liked. _Maybe it has something to do with the vibration, _Darcy thought, as Loki moaned barely audibly at her in response.

In all her life, Darcy had never felt this protected. With his arms around her, as cheesy as she thought it was, she felt absolutely, completely _safe_— and that both terrified and thrilled her.

* * *

**A/N: This doesn't really apply to this chapter, but I've decided not to include any chapter warnings from here on out. I can't help feeling like I'm kind of spoiling it for people by putting a warning at the beginning, because then you'll know something's coming and it messes with your perception and my storytelling and all that. So: the warnings in the summery apply to the whole story. Be ready for surprise sex and violence at any point. Thanks!**


	12. Chapter 12

Darcy woke up just early enough to remember that she and Loki had to go to work in a few hours, and that kind of pissed her off.

She understood going to work; hell, normally it'd be no problem to just roll out of bed, get dressed, and go pretend to do important things while the smart people worked. However, since Darcy and Loki's sexcapades began almost two weeks before, Darcy had been really struggling to find the motivation to get out of bed each morning, because staying in bed meant being touched by Loki. To make it worse, the two of them couldn't get close at work because they hadn't told Jane yet. This only left mild non-verbal flirting, such as winking, eye-sex, and Darcy's personal favorite, grabbing Loki's ass as she walked by him.

After a few minutes of building herself up, Darcy pulled herself out of bed and away from Loki, who was still deep in sleep. Darcy walked to her own room and started her routine, but really wasn't inspired.

Just as she was pulling on her clothes, Darcy heard Loki getting out of bed and walking down the hall.

"In here," Darcy called out, adjusting her shirt as she walked out to meet him. "You know, normally, I really don't want to go to work, but today: I _really _don't want to go to work."

Loki was in the hallway, eating an apple and grinning smugly.

"What are you smiling about?"

"You said you didn't want to go in to work today?" he asked, ignoring her question.

"Yeah, but why are you smiling like that?"

"Perhaps we should call Jane. We can tell her you're sick and that I'm staying in to take care of you,"

"Ok," Darcy was unsure of what was happening, but she planned to just go along with it.

Pulling out her cellphone, Darcy pressed Jane's contact and then call.

As the phone rang, Loki stood in front of her, still smiling smugly as he looked expectantly at her.

The phone picked up. "Hell_o_?" The 'o' had shifted itself into a scream as Jane heard the sound of her own voice; the pitch was lower and she now had the same accent as the two Asgardians. Darcy had to cover her mouth to keep from audibly laughing. She looked up to Loki, who looked triumphant.

"Is that Thor's…?" Darcy mouthed.

He nodded. "Pretend nothing's different," he whispered, grinning even wider.

"Hey, Jane," Darcy then coughed to help set the story. "I was just calling to say—" cough, "—that I feel really sick and that I can't come in today, and—" cough, "Loki's staying home too to take care of me," Darcy made her voice sound weak to really hit it home.

"Darcy, can you hear my voice? Something happened to me, and— and— do I sound like Thor?"

"I feel really sick, Jane," Darcy responded. Loki reached forward and took the phone from her as Jane kept talking about her voice, probably just to hear it out loud more.

"Hello, Jane," he said, "I'm afraid to say Darcy isn't feeling well. I don't think either of us will be able to come in today, and perhaps even tomorrow as well,"

Darcy could hear Jane yelling from where she stood, "_I know you have something to do with this! You better fix this right now, or so help me—_"

"Fix what?"

"_Loki! Fix me right now or I'll—_" Darcy was unable to hear the rest of that sentence because Jane brought her voice down to her angry-elementary-school-teacher-tone. Whatever she was saying, Loki's face was draining and his grin was long gone.

"It's done. Sorry to have bothered you, Jane. As for now, I really must go; Darcy's calling out again. I'll see you tomorrow or the day after." Loki quickly hung up and handed the phone back to Darcy.

"What the hell did she say?" Darcy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"After several colorful threats against my manhood, she said that she would come over here and one way or another make my voice as high as yours,"

"Oh. Ouch,"

"Yes, but now we have all today to do whatever we want," Loki slid the conversation smoothly into more of a pleasing territory.

"Anything you have in mind?" Darcy asked, the corners of her mouth rising.

"Oh, I don't know," He turned around and started walking down the hall toward the kitchen. "What is there to do here?" she heard him say just after hearing the _clunk _of the apple core falling into the trashcan. "What haven't we already done?"

"I don't know," Darcy said, choosing not to follow after him. He moved to where they could see each other. "What's wrong with something we've already done? Repetition can be fun,"

"True, but will you make it worth my while?"

"I might," She turned around and started walking toward her room. She spoke on a serious note, "I'm going to change out of these clothes,"

She could practically feel his eyes falling down her back as she walked down the hall. It was almost as erotic as when his hands followed that path.

Before she could enter her room, Darcy felt a hand on her elbow twisting her around and Loki was there, kissing her and pulling her to him by the hips.

"You're eager this morning, aren't you? Normally you're not this impatient," Darcy laughed as their mouths separated and Loki worked on taking off her clothes.

"What can I say? You look absolutely erotic today," he said as he pulled her shirt over her head and threw it on the floor behind him.

He dropped to one knee in front of her and slipped her skirt and panties down at once, carefully helping her step out of them. Leaning forward, he kissed her chastely on her hipbone and worked his way up her stomach, breast, and then neck.

Darcy reached down and stuck her fingers into his pants, and then she was simultaneously sliding his pants down and scraping lightly at the skin of his thighs. Loki moaned breathily and tilted his head back as now she dropped to her knees.

"You are eager," she noted, glancing up at him.

Echoing his earlier move, Darcy worked her way up his torso with her mouth, albeit a little rougher than Loki had.

When she was standing again, Loki's arms wrapped around Darcy so tightly she could feel his right hand on her left ribcage. His tongue flicked and sparks ignited within her.

Darcy moaned against his mouth as his teeth bit her lower lip, pulling on it, letting it go, and then reclaiming her mouth. His grip tightened as he grabbed at her, lifting her up to him. Her legs instinctually wrapped around him; their closeness and lack of clothing and current tongue-battle already arousing Darcy to the point of pulling at Loki's hair and clawing at his back. They were still in the frantic make-out stage and she already was getting desperate.

Loki made his way down the hallway and toward her bedroom, kissing Darcy roughly the whole way. Glancing back over her shoulder, she saw that the door to her room was closed, and moments later she felt her back press up against the door in a reprise of their first time weeks before. Loki leaned into her as his mouth traveled sloppily yet purposefully from her lips to her neck as Darcy grinded into him in an attempt to even things out at least a little (she shouldn't be having all the fun). Darcy felt one of his hands leave its current position on her ass, and then the door swung open and the two of them almost fell through the doorway into her room. Loki kept them both up gracefully; swinging sideways with the door instead of falling or loosing the surface he had her against.

"Loki," she could barely get out as she felt him kissing and sucking at her neck, undoubtedly giving her yet another hickey for her turtlenecks and scarves to hide. As Loki incorporated teeth into his act, Darcy quickly felt what little composure she had slip away. She let out a low, wanton moan as Loki sunk his teeth into the crook of her neck.

One of his hands slipped up to her breast, handling her in a way that was simultaneously rough and tender. His lips slowed down and returned to her mouth, which would almost be considered sweet if his hand wasn't currently roughing her up.

"You're a flirt, you know that?" Darcy said between gasps as Loki moved to her ear, biting at her earlobe.

"Do you not love it?" he breathed into her ear.

That was enough to do it for her. Grabbing him with both hands on either side of his face, Darcy brought his lips to hers hard and the two of them shared their deepest kiss yet. Pulling apart, Darcy refocused to kiss along his jawline and then on his neck.

Loki stepped away from the door and walked toward the bed, but halfway there Darcy mirrored his earlier actions and lightly but firmly bit him on the shoulder. She knew she was successful as she felt more than heard a deep, guttural growl emerge from him.

"Are we doing it that way this time?" he asked lowly.

"Yes, please," Darcy said, not knowing exactly what he meant by that but eager to find out.

Loki then actually surprised her; moving to stand at the foot of the bed, he grabbed her by the thighs and (roughly in nature, but definitely not painfully) flipped her onto the bed. The look he was giving her when her eyes went up to meet his was purely predatory, his eyes darkening and sending a shiver up her spine.

Starting just below her navel, Loki made his way up her body with his mouth, tasting and teasing but never spending too much time on one place. He was holding himself above her, grinding his member against her entrance and licking a thick line up her neck, when the sound of someone knocking on the front door caused them both to freeze.

"Go answer the door!" Darcy hissed, looking expectantly up at him as he balanced over her.

"Are you unable?"

"I'm naked!"

"So am I. Would you rather answer the door naked or have some strange man answer your door naked?"

"Nice try. It's probably Jane, and I'm supposed to be sick, remember? How about you just get some clothes on and tell her I'm asleep or something?"

"And lose the moment of seeing her face as I answer the door in a state of undress?" Loki rose off of her and straightened, providing Darcy with an excellent view once again.

"Don't flash her, and please don't scare her,"

"Scare her? It's like you don't even know me," Loki's eyes flashed pure mischief as he looked back at her before leaving the room. Darcy immediately rolled out of bed and followed him, careful to remain out of sight from the door just in case.

Darcy slowly walked down the hallway, listening for a voice to indicate who was at the door. Hearing it open, she froze in her tracks, careful not to make any noise.

From where she was standing, she could see Loki but not whoever was at the front door. Lucky for that person (or unlucky, depending on how you looked at it), Loki had managed to pull on his jeans before opening the door. It was an odd thing, Darcy thought, seeing Loki in jeans. When she had found him all those months ago, he had been wearing his fancy black under clothes, just like Thor had been. Now, looking at him answering the door in just his nicely fit jeans, Darcy actually got a small swell of pride and more than a small swell of lust. _Those jeans fit him _well_._

Darcy tuned in to the conversation going on in the other room. "No, I'm sorry," Loki said, "I'm afraid Darcy just went to sleep. She had an awful headache. She could barely handle having the light on in her room." He was laying it on thick.

"I understand that, but why were you shirtless if you were taking care of Darcy?" Jane's voice asked suspiciously.

"I was about to take a shower when I heard you knock on the door,"

_Clever bastard,_ Darcy thought.

"Oh, well, sorry for interrupting. I was just coming to make sure she was all right, but I see she's in very capable hands,"

"Yes, she is." Fuck him and his double entendre that flew past Jane. "Well, it was lovely seeing you, Jane," Loki was clearly done with this.

"Are you sure I can't check on her?" Jane asked, pressing further.

"She is currently asleep. There isn't much to see,"

"Well, I'm sure you wouldn't mind me just peeking in for a moment? Just a little reassurance," Darcy dove back into her room and quietly shut her door just as Jane pushed inside past Loki. Damn Jane and her dedication and her being a good friend.

Darcy turned off the light to her room and dove into bed, all the while hearing Jane making her way down the hall and Loki attempting to stall her.

"I must warn you, the last time I checked on her, she threw her alarm clock at the wall beside me,"

"I think I'll take my chances,"

"She is most likely contagious,"

"I'm starting to get the feeling you _really_ don't want me to see Darcy, and that only makes me want to see her more. And don't think I forgot about the whole voice thing this morning. Now, please move,"

Darcy adjusted the covers and made sure they were pulled up to her neck, covering the fact she was naked.

"If you insist," Loki said. The door opened and Darcy heard Jane enter the room. A few moments later, a cold hand was against her forehead and the bed fell slightly as Jane sat down beside her.

"She's a little warm. You said she had a headache?"

"She was also fatigued. I believe she recently went through some kind of physical activity that simply tired her out. With some rest, I do think she'll be fine."

"Physical activity?" Jane asked, confused.

Darcy decided she didn't want to know what Loki would make up, so she began to fake-stir in her fake-sleep, catching the attention of the two others.

"Jane?" she asked lightly, cracking her eyes open.

"Hey," Darcy could hear the smile on her face. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired. My head is killing me,"

"Here, I'll make you some tea," Jane started to stand, but Darcy reached out and grabbed her hand, unintentionally showing Jane her shoulders and a little cleavage.

"Wait, are you naked?" Jane asked, confused.

"Well, uh… ahh…" Darcy searched for an answer, but then pretended to be in pain and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Why is she naked? And you're half naked… I swear, if you were doing something shady to her—" Jane had turned to Loki and was actually pointing a finger and telling him off. Darcy would be touched over Jane defending her honor if she wasn't so desperate to have her leave.

"I assure you," Loki cut off Jane's rant before it started, "Her lack of clothing is of her own accord. I simply made sure she had everything she needed and left her alone to rest."

Darcy cracked her eyes open to see Jane squinting her eyes at Loki. She wouldn't have been surprised if Jane had continued the conversation with "I'm on to you, buddy."

Darcy leaned up, wrapping the sheet around her chest to cover herself.

She began with a sigh, but then spoke as maturely as she could manage. "All right, we're going to handle this like adults."

Both of the faces in front of her were priceless; Loki's eyes were briefly wide as saucers, but then slid to a slight smile and one eyebrow raised, expectant and entertained. Jane, on the other hand, looked as if her eyes were about to fall out of her head.

"Jane, before you got here, Loki and I were… engaging in… relations. Of the intimate variety. You know, if you think about it, it's not that weird or anything. You and Thor probably would have eventually, if you had known him longer than like a week. We could all tell you wanted it desperately. And it's only fair if I have my own god. And we were being intimate. Just now. Intimate relations. Yeah." Darcy spoke quickly and babbled aimlessly. Jane's eyes were blank as her lips parted, but she hesitated before she spoke.

"You were _what_?" Jane said.

"What Darcy was trying to was, we were having sex. We have been for a while now," Loki cut in.

Jane was silent for a moment, staring wide-eyed at the ground and not daring to look up at either of them.

"And that's why you're both naked," she affirmed.

"That is usually involved in acts of sexual relations," Loki answered. Darcy shot him a look and tried to hide her smile.

"And you called off work just so you could…" Jane didn't seem to know how to finish so she waved her hand around instead to get the idea across.

"Spend the entire day… getting to know each other better," Darcy answered carefully.

Jane paused before answering. "Right. Ok. Ignoring the fact you two were lying to get out of work, I'm just going to go. I think I just need a little bit to adjust. You said you'd been doing this for a while now?"

"Two weeks, on Saturday," Darcy confirmed.

"Two weeks. Yeah." She stood up and looked between the two of them. To Darcy's complete surprise, Jane started laughing.

"Um, you ok, buddy?" Darcy started to get up as well, but remembered at the last moment she was naked and didn't particularly want to flash Jane.

"Yeah," she said, "You know, in a way, I'm kind of not surprised by this. And I kind of see it, now that the shock is wearing off some," Jane looked to Loki, who was still observing the conversation with an amused expression. "Consider me stopping by as payback for the voice thing this morning," she said.

"You're just completely ok with this?" Darcy asked, lowering her brow. "No fainting, no screaming, no denial?"

"I'm trying not to think about the technicalities, but as long as this doesn't interfere with your work and you're both happy, I'm ok."

"So does this mean we can have the day off?" Darcy asked hopefully.

"Sure. Why not? I don't think I'm going in either. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to focus on much of anything for a while. Half of me is in shock, and the other half feels dumb for not realizing all this sooner."

"And tomorrow?"

"Don't push your luck," Jane moved to leave. "Have fun. Don't get her pregnant," she added, jabbing a finger at Loki and narrowing her eyes for the latter statement.

"I'll do my best," Loki said, stepping back a little as she passed him.

When they heard the front door close, Darcy saw Loki look back at her with a feral grin and hungry eyes, and her stomach dropped in the best possible way.

* * *

**I'd just like to make some things clear: this story is my complete Frankenstein-ification of the movies, the comics, and my own imagination/how I see the characterization. I'm adding themes that are present in the comics, but I've never read them so I'm going off wikapedia articles and the like. After a point, I'm just making it up as I go along. There is a certain detail later on in the story that I am completely 100% making up; it is my explanation of something ~from the past~, and I like how it fits, but _that _certain detail may be explained differently in the comics. I don't know. You'll see later on. That made no sense at all.**

**Tl;dr: with one thing, I'm using the comics. With something else, I'm using my imagination. Oops.**


	13. Chapter 13

***Etta James' "At Last" starts playing***

**Sorry it's been 5ever. Again, I only have crappy excuses. Also, it's finals time, which means I probably won't get another update out for like two weeks. After that, though, I'll be back in business and updating at least once a week.**

**Somebody asked me in a review when I'm getting back to my other current story, "What We Lost." To that, I say: it's on hiatus. I thought I could do two chapter fics at once, and I did for a little while, but not during school. I've decided that I'm not going back to it until Life's Great Lie is done, so I can completely dedicate my brain to one thing and do it well. I can promise however that I have some big plans for that story; more of everything that was in the first one: more action-y stuff, more fluff, more smut, you name it. The same goes for Life's Great Lie as well: I have all my plot-ducks in a row; I just need to get with it and write it all down.**

**ANYWAYS.**

**I'd like to thank my rad beta, Sam, for being the best beta to ever beta. You go, girl.**

* * *

Darcy stepped out of the shower, wrapping herself in a towel. Loki watched her, taking in the way the steam filled the air around her and the water dripped off her body. Half of him was tempted to take her right there, but he decided to let it go. They had just gone a few rounds in the shower, to Darcy's obvious amusement. She had described the concept of 'shower sex' as a requirement for their fast-growing relationship. Loki was more than satisfied just about anywhere; he just made sure that Darcy enjoyed herself. Judging by the slight difference in the way she walked and the absent smile on her face, she had enjoyed it thoroughly.

Loki leaned against the wall with a smug smile. When Darcy looked his way and saw him watching her dry her hair, she stuck her tongue out at him, to which he winked in response.

"You're a nerd," she said, turning away and giving him a great view of her back.

"I don't think that's any way to talk to someone who just fucked you against a shower wall,"

"Dirty talk won't change anything. You are a complete nerd, Loki Odinson." She glanced back at him over her shoulder, flashing a grin.

Loki grimaced slightly at the mentioning of Odin, but made sure Darcy didn't notice. As close as the two of them now were, they had not yet had that conversation. It wasn't something Loki was particularly looking forward to.

"I don't think there is anyone else I would allow that kind of talking back from," he said instead, stepping away from the wall and toward her.

Darcy turned to him as he approached, but she misstepped and slipped on the wet floor. Before she even registered that she was falling, Loki stepped forward and caught her, wrapping his around her waist and stopping her mid-drop.

"My hero," Darcy deadpanned, looking up at him. "What would I ever do without you?"

"Well, for starters, you'd be infinitely more bored and probably have a lot less sex,"

Darcy rolled her eyes, and then returned to drying off and getting dressed.

The two of them had an early dinner and then, at Darcy's persuasion, they watched her favorite Star Wars movie. After, Loki carried her to the bedroom, pulled off the clothes she had put on only a few hours before, and then hopefully made her regret ever calling him a 'nerd.'

She had been drawn out until she was yelling out his name. He had bit into her shoulder to keep himself from getting too verbal. She had let out a long sigh, he had loudly groaned, and then Darcy had fallen back on the bed and Loki had all but collapsed on top of her, while still making sure to roll off of her as soon as he physically could. Both Darcy and Loki were now attempting to catch their breath and regain their composure.

Loki turned to her and put his hand on her ribs. She turned as well, so the two of them were now facing each other. His arms wrapped around her instinctively.

He moved forward and kissed Darcy properly; it had been a few days since they had had a regular, full-on romantic kiss, and that was something Loki regretted letting happen.

"Darcy," he murmured lightly, his arms tight around her body. "I've been giving this a lot of thought,"

"Well that can't be good," she said when he paused.

"Please, I'm being serious. Darcy, one day you're going to die,"

"That's quite the conversation starter." He gave her a look, begging her to be serious. He must have looked extremely distressed; Darcy's eyes softened as her expression grew thoughtful. "It won't be for a while," she said, cupping her hand on his cheek.

"For you, yes. For me, you'll be gone in a mere fraction of my lifetime. And Darcy," he looked away from her, anywhere but her eyes, as honest-to-god tears started swelling up. Due to their proximity, that meant looking down at her neck. "I wouldn't be able to watch you die,"

"I wouldn't let you. You've got about twenty more years before I just wouldn't be able to keep up with you, and I wouldn't want to. Just imagine the sex if I was wrinkly and you were still young,"

"I love you, Darcy."

He had said it to her before. A few weeks before, Darcy had mentioned it in passing and he had replied with the same, and then they were saying it regularly, whether it was during sex, when they did things for each other, or whenever they just felt like saying it. However, the situation had never been like this. Loki was aware he was telling her this with a sincerity he had never before possessed; honesty was difficult for one who was used to only weaving lies.

"I love you too," she said, her eyes glancing between his.

"And that's just the problem, isn't it? We love each other, but your lifespan is far too short. Actually, anything short of immortal would be far too short,"

"I'm going to stop you right there."

Loki cocked an eyebrow at her statement. A deep stab of doubt ran through him as his mind went to what she might be getting at.

"And don't get your pouty face," Darcy continued, "It's not because I don't love you and want to be with you and whatever. I'm just saying, I think we should know each other for at least a year or two before we start talking _forever_, because I think you don't know what you're getting into with me. I'm still in shock over this entire relationship; you're a god, and I'm just—"

He cut off where that awful statement was going with a deep kiss and rolled them so that he was holding himself over her.

"I love you," he said into her lips. "You're the most perfect being I have ever met, and I can't wait to spend as long as you'll let me proving that to you, and I can't even compose the words to explain how much of a goddess I think you to be, and now I'm rambling and I believe that has something to do with you, and I love you."

"Wow, Loki. That was borderline romantic," she said as he lightly trailed his lips down her jaw and moved until he was lying more beside than on her once again.

"I mean it, Darcy. Every word."

She looked over to him and caught him staring straight into her.

"I know you do. And let me say: the feeling is mutual."

Loki grinned, and then kissed her and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her even closer to him. They looked to each other and both grinned widely.

"Nerd," Darcy muttered, her grin only making his grow.

"Smart-ass."

* * *

They were on his bed, both reading. Loki was lounging against the headboard and Darcy was lying down sideways with her head on his lap. Though Loki tried his best to concentrate on his book—some tales of Greek mythology Darcy had given him a few weeks back—he was repeatedly drawn to watching Darcy. The way her eyes flicked across the pages and how her expression softly changed during different moments intrigued him and filled him with a quiet, soft bliss. Currently, she had a small smile growing on her face and Loki was fairly sure it was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.

Loki reached down and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. She murmured in thanks, but continued with her story without a word.

Looking down at her—his lover, his best friend, and his savior—it dawned on Loki yet again that Darcy was the reason he no longer felt lost. Before, his ambitions were great and his deviance was simply his attempts to prove himself worthy. He had been driven physically sick and nearly mad by the mocking and belittling and apathy. Loki knew all this now, and he was even beginning to truly regret what he had done in his last days in Asgard. Thinking of his actions when he was king—the continued banishment of Thor, the sending of the Destroyer to Midgard, the attempted genocide against his own people—Loki only saw mistakes. He was unsure if he regretted more what he had done or the fact that it had failed, but he did recognize that his logic at the time had been utterly flawed.

Loki hated what his father—what Odin had done. Before, he had wanted to tilt his head back and scream to the skies, to beat against the wall and the ground and scream and cry until his hands and throat bled. He had wanted to do this while falling and for a long time since landing. But now… now he wanted something else much more. He wanted to show Darcy that he wasn't a howling monster. He wanted to prove himself, not to his brother or to Odin or to any Asgardian; he wanted to prove his worth to Darcy. It had taken a human to show him humanity and to bring light to the void, to the darkness he thought had swallowed him— for when Loki had fallen, he had been lost, and when Darcy found him, he had been saved. He was now set on proving himself not a worthy king or son, but a worthy person and a worthy partner.

Loki, when he could swallow his pride, could see Odin's perspective in all of this; telling Loki at an early age would've changed everything. Loki's circumstances were one awful situation after another, starting with his birth. Odin had said that he hadn't told him the truth to protect him, and while he hated that, Loki could understand it. There was no good way to handle that situation; telling Loki early on would've completely changed his outlook on life, but waiting as long as Odin had had destroyed Loki.

He had longed for the days when he and Thor fought and trained together and the inequality between them was simply an inkling of doubt in Loki's mind, not a confirmed fact. Only months before, Loki had looked to Odin as a father, as a being who wasn't capable of hurting him in such a way. He had once thought of his father as an omnipotent deity, an all-knowing protector. But now, he saw him for what he really was: a man who could make mistakes. And for some reason, Loki forgave him. He forgave all of them: Odin and Frigga, Thor, Sif and the Warriors Three, Heimdall, everyone. He wanted none of those negative sentiments in him any longer. Loki didn't want to be their friends or really even overly acquainted with them; he just wanted the hatred and lies to be gone.

And then Loki realized what had been evident since he had first realized he cared for Darcy: he no longer desired a throne or a title or even acceptance among the Asgardians. All that he really wanted was here, reading a book beside him.

"Darcy?" Loki said suddenly.

"Hmm?" Her murmur was soft and he felt it vibrate through him.

"I have… I have something to confess," he said, shifting slightly. Darcy sat up and turned to face him.

"Well, go ahead,"

"I…"

_I am the murderous bastard son of a monster. I tried to kill an entire race of beings. I am a liar and a killer and a traitor._

"… have a lot of explaining to do," he began.

Darcy bit her lip as she waited for him to go on.

"Have you ever heard the term 'Frost Giant' or 'Jotunn?'"

"It sounds familiar. Why?"

Loki sighed deeply and ran a hand through his hair. Darcy brought a hand up to his face and lightly turned his head so that they were making eye contact.

"Whatever you have to say," she said lowly, "It won't change how I feel. Ok?"

"I'm not one of the Aesir. I'm a Frost Giant of Jotunheim. My father was their king, and I killed him. I tried to kill all of the Frost Giants, and I would have if Thor hadn't stopped me," Loki blurted. Darcy's eyes went wide and body went stiff.

"You tried to kill them?" she repeated. "You tried to commit _genocide_ against your own race?"

"Yes, but I am literally a monster—"

"I don't care what you are!" Her voice rose for a moment, shocking him. She took a deep breath. Now calmer, she said, "In what you just said, the only thing that concerns me is the fact that you killed or tried to kill people,"

Loki searched her eyes and surprisingly didn't see disgust or fear; he saw only disappointment.

"I'm sorry," was all he could manage to say.

"I don't think this is something you can just say sorry over and have that be the end of it. And I'm the last person you should be apologizing to. Did you ever apologize to a Frost Giant?"

"Well, no, but I haven't seen any recently, and if I did, I don't think I'd last long enough to make an apology,"

"Did you apologize to any Asgardians for most likely fucking up their foreign relations with these guys?"

"No, but we were not very friendly with Jotunheim before that,"

Darcy shook her head. Sliding out of bed, she walked across the room and picked up the first piece of clothing she could find: one of his shirts. She looked at it for a moment before putting it on.

"I'm just hearing excuses." She turned and walked for the door. Before leaving, she partially turned her head and said, almost in passing, "When you come up with something closer to a real apology or 'I was wrong,' you can come out of your room."

With that, the door was almost slammed shut behind her.

Loki immediately stood, pulled on a pair of pants, and followed her out. When he walked into the main room, he saw Darcy sitting on the couch. Her head was ducked down and her hands were knotted in her hair. She must've heard him come in, because she glanced back at him and tried to hide the fact she was still enraged and nearly crying.

"Darcy," Loki went to the couch and sat beside her, careful not to touch her. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry,"

"No," She looked up at him. "You're not sorry for what I want you to be sorry for. You're sorry that I'm upset, not _why_ I'm upset."

"Do you think I don't regret almost killing an entire race of beings? It was an act of anger, of desperation. I wish more than anything that I could go back to that day and stop myself, but I can't. All I can do right now is ask for your forgiveness,"

"I'm not the one you need forgiveness from!" she shouted, looking at him with wide, furious eyes.

"I know. But you're the only person that I can apologize to any time soon, and your forgiveness means the most to me." He watched as her eyes danced between rage and anguish as she held herself back.

"It shouldn't, in this situation." She spoke dryly, almost like she was disgusted. Her expression was now unreadable; her eyes were full of contempt, pain, and something else he couldn't identify. Watching her like this, so full of negative emotions that he caused, ripped at him. He only wanted to make her happy.

"Well, it does. I love you, and I want to be honest with you, but I don't want you to think of me as a monster,"

"I don't. I can't just forget something like genocide or murder, but I do still love you. I don't think anything will ever change that. I just need to know that you feel some kind of remorse,"

"I do." He couldn't find the words to say anything else.

Darcy turned so that he was facing her side and brought her legs close to her chest and hugged them.

"How could we ever say we even know each other, let alone love each other, without me knowing that?" she breathed, her eyebrows coming together.

"Darcy," Loki moved himself to be on his knees in front of her, searching her eyes desperately. He shook his head as he attempted not to let her dagger sink in too far and unsuccessfully kept tears from his own eyes. "Darcy, don't say that. Please don't say that,"

"No, it's just…" She paused and stared blankly out in front of her. "I can't believe you'd ever be capable of something like killing an entire race,"

"If it means anything, I look back on it and feel only regret," Loki offered.

"Of course that matters." He watched as she pulled on the closest thing to a smile it appeared she could manage, and took his face in her hands. "You regret it, and that's great. It doesn't take back what you did, but it is a great start for redemption. When we get to Asgard, you'll have some apologies to make all around. I think you're better than murder and genocide, and maybe one day you'll think that too."

"You'll still come to Asgard?" he grinned, sitting back on his legs.

"Of course. What, did you think one argument would stop me from visiting a different planet? I'd be going even if I had to stow away in Jane's backpack. Besides, who else will kick your ass if you get out of line?" Now they both grinned as Darcy brought her legs down so she could move in to kiss him. A thought occurred to Loki and his smile quickly faded.

"You never reacted to my being a Frost Giant," he noted.

"Was I supposed to react differently?" she asked, sitting back.

"I told you that I am Frost Giant. I had assumed you would react with fear,"

"I don't know what a Frost Giant is, but you aren't really frosty or overly giant, so I don't see what the big deal is. Besides, if you did look different, I wouldn't really care."

"I do look different, though. If I touch something of Jotunheim, my form shifts into my natural state. The only reason I didn't look like that when I didn't have my powers was because I had solidified my Asgardian form with a permanent spell when I was young, before I even knew."

"You didn't know?" she asked, understanding starting to come into her eyes. "Loki, when did you find out?"

He sighed. "Just after Thor's banishment."

She spoke lowly, almost as a sigh, as concern and sadness flooded her expression. "Loki," She pulled on his arm until he was sitting on the couch beside her. "I'm sorry that this means a lot to you and that it's something you're ashamed of, but I want to make sure you know that it changes _nothing_ with me. I still love you the same,"

"And you really don't care that I'm… that?"

Darcy looked hurt that he even asked that—not insulted, but concerned. "I want to make this as clear to you as possible: I honestly would not care if you had giant purple wings, scales, and six penises. You aren't a monster, and I love you no matter what."

Loki was dumbfounded. He had expected her to run from him screaming in terror, not restate her love or even support him. The only problem she saw was how it affected him, not his parentage itself.

Almost as if reading his mind, she moved closer to him and spoke quietly. "I'm not going anywhere."

Loki said nothing. Darcy wrapped her arms around him and held him to her chest, and soon he found himself shaking and crying. Past the little shame he still had, he knew this was good for him. More than that, it was good for the two of them as a couple.

"Thank you," Loki managed to say after a few minutes of silence.

* * *

Darcy never thought she'd cry during sex. Sure, Loki had gotten her to the point where she was nearly hysterical in desperation before, but that didn't count. Right now, though, Loki was touching every inch of her, tracing unseen patterns with fingers and lips and whispering into her skin things she would probably never hear again. It was slow and intimate and the sensations were enough to overwhelm her; when he noticed the tears rolling down her face, he kissed her cheeks and forehead and told her he loved her so much and she saw his eyes tearing up too.

Their entire evening had been a rollercoaster of emotions. Through all of it, though, Darcy did believe they were much better off now. Loki had been honest with her and told her all of his deep dark secrets. That was enough to make her brain go into overload. Now, they were having intimate, steamy almost-sex back in his bed, where both of them were now crying. It was weird, but it was very _them._

It was early morning when they were finished. They were lying on the bed, both nearly asleep, when Darcy's phone began ringing. She picked it up and answered, immediately sitting up a few seconds after answering.

"Are you— are you sure?"

Loki sat up as well, watching her for either a positive or negative reaction.

"That's great! So you think, what, next week? Oh, that soon?"

Darcy was grinning now. She looked to Loki, who raised an eyebrow.

"That's awesome. Great. I'll tell him. All right, bye,"

Darcy threw her phone back onto the table, looked to him, and grinned. "Jane says we're just about done with the portal device, and that we'll be able to go to Asgard in the next few days. Isn't that awesome?"

* * *

**Thanatos**; (n)

1. A Death wish; the death instinct (Freudian theory)

2. Death as a personification


	14. Chapter 14

**I'd like to give a huge thank you to all of my lovely reviewers, specifically AvalonFrost66 for saying the nicest thing ever. But seriously guys—your reviews make my heart melt. And everybody reading this/following this story or me/favoriting this story or me: I love you.**

**Also, thanks as always to my beta Sam.**

**PS— I should have the next chapter up this Saturday, if all goes well :D**

* * *

Jane looked over to Darcy and mouthed something.

"What?"

Jane rolled her eyes and mouthed it again.

"Monsieur the devil's bat?" Darcy was very sure that was not what Jane was trying to communicate, but that was all she was getting from her.

The noise around them was deafening. Darcy could barely hear her own thoughts, let alone what Jane was trying to say to her. She saw Jane mouthing it again, and concentrating on that and the faint sound of her voice, Darcy was able to make out what she was saying.

"Where are the levels at?" Jane called out to Darcy yet again, fighting to keep her grip on a certain part of the portal device steady.

"Everything looks normal!" Darcy replied, cupping her hands at her mouth so Jane could hear her.

Jane had built their fancy-schmancy portal machine from a car engine, five high-powered computers, and scraps of electronics she had found around the lab. To Darcy, it just looked like a large, glorified toaster duct taped to a fan, but Jane had assured them it would work. With Loki's help, they had been able to make it into a hopefully functioning portal to Asgard. Hopefully.

Sparks were flying off the spinning machine like crazy; the fan inside sounded like it was about ready to fly off. Since Jane had decided it was necessary for them to power up the portal in the middle of nowhere (for the safety of other people, and the privacy), they had sand flying around everywhere too. A funnel of sand circled Jane, Loki, and the portal, and Darcy took the full force of it as she stood by the car, watching over the computers they'd set up in the car to monitor different levels.

Darcy looked over to Loki. He was deep in concentration, his hands on top of the portal device. His hands weren't glowing and he wasn't reciting anything in a different language or anything like that, so Darcy was unsure if he was fueling up the portal or not. He looked tired, though, Darcy noted. His eyes were slightly sunken in and he looked like he hadn't had anything to drink for days.

"Still good," Darcy yelled again, glancing at the screens in front of her. She had the boring job; Loki got to power everything up, Jane had to work hands-on with the machine to make sure it didn't go haywire, and Darcy got to stand over by the car and watch the computer screens and get a face full of sand and dust.

Loki stepped back from the machine and the winds immediately died down. Jane flipped a switch on the portal device, and it started making a different noise than before. "It's good," she said, grinning. "It's operational. We did it," Jane turned to Loki as she spoke. Loki looked at her, smiling weakly.

"I'll have to run some minor tests on it and make sure the power remains balanced, but I think, if all goes well, we should be in Asgard the day after tomorrow," Jane was talking more to herself than to either of them. She was scuttling around the portal, making sure every switch and knob was exactly the right way. She ran back and forth between the car and the portal a few times, her smile growing with each passing moment.

Loki made his way over to Darcy. She noticed he appeared to be limping.

"You ok?" she asked, poking him in the stomach.

"Yeah. It required a little more magic than I had anticipated, but it was nothing I couldn't handle."

Darcy gave him her best "don't lie to me" look, but dropped it at that. Loki leaned against the side of the car, and the two of them waited for Jane to finish her final checks.

* * *

"So, is it normal for women to wear pants in Asgard? Because I don't think I'll survive if I have to wear a dress everyday,"

Darcy was currently packing her bag for Asgard, and spending more time doing so than Loki had ever thought a person could spend doing anything. In the time it had taken her to pack just her undergarments and sleepwear, he had already read a full chapter of the book he was currently on, plus stopped to answer Darcy's many questions. Loki was still uncertain of how he felt about returning to Asgard, but Jane had worked extremely hard on the portal device and Darcy was excited, so he tried to push out any negative sentiments he felt and focused on the others' enthusiasm.

Loki put his book aside and stood from the bed, walking to Darcy and wrapping his arms around her from behind.

"Please try not to worry over this. It doesn't matter what you wear," he said, attempting to calm her.

"How can I not worry about this? It's the clothes that I'm meeting your parents in. It's what I'm going to be wearing when I meet aliens and visit a different planet,"

"Darling, you've already met aliens. And honestly, you shouldn't worry too much over my parents. My mother will love you no matter what you wear, and my father… well, Odin will pay more attention to you than your clothing."

"That's calming," Darcy deadpanned. She stepped away and turned to face him. "Please, just give me a hint. I need you to tell me, because I don't want to embarrass myself in front of all of these fancy people. I'm literally going to be meeting _royalty_, Loki. What am I supposed to wear?"

"You can wear whatever you like, except during feasts and ceremonies, when more elegant dress is called for. It is also traditional for women to wear the colors of the man they are… betrothed to." Loki was unsure of how Darcy would react to his word choice, but he could think of no better word that belonged there.

Darcy turned back around and started looking through her closet again. "So, green and gold. I don't know how much green and gold I have, actually. Well, as long as I don't accidentally wear Thor's colors or something, I should be ok. Hey, would you mind getting my phone from the living room? I wanted to order a pizza tonight, since we'll be eating fancy food for however long we're in Asgard,"

Loki blinked as he registered everything that Darcy had said and that she had either not heard or cared about the 'betrothed' comment. "Sure," he said, turning and heading that way.

"You're a gentleman and a scholar," she replied, most likely referencing something.

Loki walked out of the bedroom and into the living room, Darcy starting to talk again as he went. "Should I wear more gold than green and be like the inverted version of you, or am I supposed to completely match you?"

"Either would work," he said as he flipped on the light.

"Why is this so stressful? Why couldn't Asgard be a nudist colony? That'd make my life so much easier."

"And that would've made my childhood that much more traumatic," Loki called back in response as he picked up her phone. As he turned to go back, the light above him went out.

Loki looked at the light bulb for a few seconds, almost in mild surprise. He thought of telling Darcy about the light, but they'd be gone tomorrow anyway and she had enough things she was worried about. Besides that, the lamp on the table was still on so they could still maneuver around the room with enough ease.

"Hey Loki?" Darcy asked as he walked back into the room with her phone. "Should I bring my taser?" Darcy spun around and pointed the small black object, a fairly recent Midgardian invention Darcy had described as a gun that shoots lightning. She posed as if she were in a shootout, like in one of her movies.

"No, you won't need it. We will not be met with hostility," Loki said, taking it from her and putting her phone in that hand.

Darcy overdramatically sighed in fake defeat. "If you insist,"

"I do insist," Loki said. Working his hand with hers, he took back her phone and tossed that and the taser onto her bed. Loki put his hands on her waist. "I love you," he murmured, pulling her up against him. Darcy tilted her head up and kissed him, humming lightly when he deepened it. He bit and lightly pulled on her bottom lip as his hands lowered to either side of her hips.

"I love you too," she said once he moved to her neck. Darcy stiffed. "Do you hear that?"

"I don't hear anything," Loki mumbled into her skin, more caught up with kissing and sucking on the skin of her neck than anything going on around them. He felt turn her head and look to the side, and he used that opportunity to lightly bite the crook of her neck.

"Loki," she said, with a tone of urgency.

He pulled his head back and looked her in the eyes, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

"You know," she began, "There's probably a snarky comment about our sex lives in here, but my bed is currently on fire."

As she spoke, he noticed out of the corner of his eye the small flame growing to almost a half a foot in height on her bed.

"So it is," he said, not taking his eyes off her. With what little remained of his magic—and that was not much, considering how much energy powering the portal device had taken out of him—he put out the flames. "I don't suppose there are any safety hazards with throwing that device of yours around, is there?"

"You know, I'm not sure. I mean, that noise I heard was my taser going off, but you never know. My phone could've spontaneously combusted, after all."

"That is a possibility," he mused.

"So, I guess we're sleeping in your room tonight. And not calling for pizza, considering the fact that my phone currently looks extra crispy,"

"You know," Loki began, bending and picking Darcy up and walking out of her room and into his, "If we wake up early tomorrow, you can pack then."

"What are you suggesting?" Darcy smiled slyly.

He sat her on the bed and got on his knees in front of her. "Well, for starters, we do something besides pack right now." His hands were resting on her legs, and one thumb was slowly circling her knee.

Darcy smiled cheekily, no doubt matching his own smirk. "Hmm, I don't know. I really should get packed," she teased.

"I'll arrange for you to have a whole new wardrobe when we get to Asgard."

"I'll need at least some of my own clothes,"

"Like I said, wake up early tomorrow,"

"You're eager tonight, you know that? We'll eventually have to stop having sex as often as we do, because I do not have the sex drive of a god, contrary to popular belief. Although, I've gotten amazing thighs from these past few months,"

Loki brought his hands up her legs and slid down her shorts and underwear edged her legs apart. "With that last statement, I can wholeheartedly agree, though your body was magnificent before we began our physical relationship,"

"Flattery won't change the fact I have to pack tonight, sir," Darcy said.

"Then I suppose I'll have to try something else,"

Loki pulled her toward him by the thighs and hooked her legs over each of his shoulders. Darcy let out a gasp that turned into a long moan, all the while holding and slightly pulling on the hair of the back of his head.

"Changed your mind yet?" Loki asked after pulling away a few minutes later, just as her orgasm was building.

Darcy glared at him for stopping, but composed herself enough to speak coherently. "What's the least cheesy, non-cliché way to say 'take me now' or 'get inside me?'"

Loki grinned at that, and then complied with her request.


	15. Chapter 15

The three of them stood around the spinning device, waiting for something to happen. Loki felt as Darcy took his hand slowly into hers.

"Will it look like a door, or will we get sucked up into some kind of hole? Because when Thor came through, he kind of just fell out of the sky," Darcy said unsurely.

"It will feel as if our bodies are being pulled, if you will, and then we will appear in Asgard," Loki assured.

"What if we don't end up in Asgard? What if we get sucked into deep space?"

"Unless there is tampering from an outside source, Asgard will be our destination." Loki said confidently.

Clouds were gathering in the sky, darkening the horizon desolately. The device sped up, looking as if it would start sending off sparks any second. About ten feet over the device, a small black dot appeared, suspended in midair.

"Is that it?" Jane asked, gazing up at the speck.

"Wait," Loki said distantly. He was unsure of what was going to happen, but if this device was anything like the Bifrost, it would need a moment to build up its energy.

The black dot grew in size, and lightning cracked out and around the widening hole. The wind suddenly picked up, sending dust and sand around wildly.

Darcy put a hand up to her face to help block the sand and save her vision. "I feel like something's wrong," she said.

Loki stared incredulously at the hole, now five feet in diameter. Beyond the void, it looked like absolute nothingness. If it were deep space, they would at least be able to see stars. He had learned that much from his time falling. But wherever it was that their portal had opened, it was completely dark. Certainly not Asgard.

"I don't understand," Loki said to himself. That was something he never thought he would utter, unless listening to one of Darcy's monologues when she'd had too much to drink, and he even understood those most of the time. This, though; something was wrong. Someone had meddled with his and Jane's calculations.

And then, without any forewarning or notice, Darcy was sucked up into the hole. She didn't have time to even make a noise. Loki stared at the hole, in shock at what had just happened. If he had bothered to look at Jane in that moment, he would have noticed her beginning to ask him what had just happened. Instead, he found himself backing up, taking a running start, and jumping from the ground and, using the device itself, jumped upward.

As soon as Loki got close to the actual void, he was sucked in as well. With as much suddenness as Darcy's extraction, the hole closed and the sky cleared, leaving Jane standing by herself, staring shocked at blue skies where blackness had just been.

Loki took a moment to take in his surroundings; he was floating in what appeared to be empty space, but he was too clever to fall for that. A simple invisibility charm was hiding his surroundings.

Without any warning, someone or something undid the spell. Loki's eyes fell upon the force that had most likely interfered with the portal device: a formidable-appearing creature, the man— for lack of better term— looked most comparable to an ape of Midgard, and even that was a stretch. The features in his face were distinctly primate, but his skin was dark blue and the texture appeared to be something like rock. His armor was impressive and threatening, just how Loki knew this person wanted it to appear to his enemies.

The entire area around them had been affected by the invisibility spell, and now this mysterious world was showing itself to him. The man was standing on what looked to be a meteor. The entire area was an asteroid field; the sky was lighter now and full of stars and distant nebulas, splattered across the night sky like a child's painting.

Down beside the man, Loki spotted Darcy. She was crumbled on the ground at the man's feet, seemingly in pain, glancing from Loki to her captor.

The man simply raised a hand toward Loki, and suddenly he found himself falling through the air and landing with a sickening crunch on the ground a few yards from the man and Darcy. She began to reach for him, but just a threatening look from the man stopped her cold.

Loki hadn't just fallen; there had been force in his landing. He had been slammed down by whatever magic this mysterious adversary had. Loki felt the distinct pain of a broken rib, but not much damage beyond that. His body would heal itself fast enough, even without his usual magic. Darcy's, on the other hand, was much more frail than his own. A land like what Loki had just gone through probably would have killed her, if not permanently damaged her.

"Asgardian," the man said in a deep, gravelly voice.

Loki was no fool— he knew that both he and Darcy were in danger. He would be civil with this man for as long as it was required, but Darcy's life was Loki's priority.

"What am I to call you?" Loki's voice was weaker than he had hoped. Perhaps his landing had caused a little more damage than he had first noticed.

"I am called Thanos," he answered bluntly. Loki thought quickly. The name was not one he recognized, but clearly this being was formidable. He was competent and gifted enough to be a threat, and a very serious one at that.

"And what is it you want from us? We are simply seeking to return home,"

"God of Mischief and Lies," Thanos said, actually appearing to smile. "I had assumed you would be better with deceit than that."

"It is the truth." Loki dared to stand up. He did not risk looking at Darcy, though he ached to.

"You say you wish to return home, Asgardian, but you do not believe it to be your home. Not truthfully."

The truth in his statement cut deep, but Loki kept his face stoic. He stared blankly at Thanos, attempting to read him. Thanos seemed to know a lot more about Loki than anyone, save Darcy, should, and that was dangerous. Loki was beginning to realize how much trouble he and Darcy were really in.

"Why did you interfere with our journey?" Loki asked bluntly.

"Because I want you to join me, Laufeyson. I want you to become my student. My servant."

He was lying. There was some truth in it, Loki could see, but Thanos was also hiding something.

"And I assume this is not an offer, but a threat," Loki stated.

"I will not force you to stay here," Thanos said slowly, "but I would encourage you to hear out what I have to offer you."

"I am not interested. I wish for the woman and myself to be transported back to Earth or to Asgard."

"You are a very intelligent and powerful being. I can teach you more than you can imagine."

"I do not wish to learn anything else. My tricks and lies have only gotten me so far. I wish to sever all ties with that part of myself."

He couldn't help it; once saying that, he looked down to Darcy. She didn't appear to be in too much pain, but she was definitely terrified, and with good reason. However, as he finished speaking, a small smile crept across her lips. She knew that he held hope for the two of them to have a life together, and he knew she wanted it too.

"It would be an immense waste of talent." Thanos said. "But I am a man of my word. I will not force you to stay here, Asgardian."

Loki nodded curtly at him and then stepped over to Darcy. He helped her to her feet and wrapped his arms around her.

"I love you," she whispered in his ear, making his heart skip a beat.

"I love you too, my sweet, beautiful Darcy," He smiled into her hair, running his hands down her back, simply glad she was alive and well.

The two of them stepped away from Thanos, but Loki watched as Darcy almost fell over beside him. He turned, bent a little, and scooped her into his arms.

"My hero," she said, smiling slyly.

Loki looked up to the area of space where the portal had been. Now, however, there was nothing there but darkness.

He contemplated the options and realized the situation before him. Of course Loki was still suspicious of Thanos, but he had been polite and civil enough in conversation. Loki was exceptionally good at reading lies, and he had not seen much deception in Thanos or his offer. No one could successfully lie to Loki, but that didn't mean Thanos wasn't withholding something.

Turning back to Thanos, Loki put on his best polite face. "Is there a way to reopen the portal from here?" he asked as innocently as his nature would allow.

"Perhaps. But I won't."

Darcy glanced worriedly from Loki to Thanos, but Loki kept his game face on, as Darcy had coined it. No need to be hostile unless it was required.

"We simply wish to return home safely. Will you not assist us?"

"When you turned down my offer, Asgardian, I had assumed it was for reasons to do with the All-Father or your loyalties to Asgard, but now I see: you love that woman, and want to spend your life with her. Well, _her _life with her."

Loki glanced to Darcy; terrified, beautiful, brilliant, weak, wise-mouthed, sarcastic, sexy, fool-hearted Darcy. The woman he held in his arms was the one and only reason he had not been lost after falling from Asgard, and was the one being he wanted to spend eternity with. He had never known love beyond his family, and even they favored Thor. And then he discovered the truth of his parentage. He knew his brother and mother loved him anyway, but it would take Loki longer to come to terms with his relationship with his father. His family loved him as all families love their children, but Darcy… Darcy loved him for who he was, not out of loyalty. There must be something in the water of Midgard, for he and his brother had both fallen for its women. Normally this kind of weakness would disgust him, but here he embraced it. This weakness meant his salvation.

"I do," Loki said, keeping it blunt. He didn't want to over-share with this creature in front of him, but what he was saying was true.

He felt Darcy move slightly in some kind of reaction to his public declaration, but Loki kept his gaze on Thanos. To Loki's horror, Thanos began laughing.

Suddenly, Loki lost his grip on Darcy; she had simply disappeared from his grasp. One moment she was in his arms, the next she was hovering before Thanos.

Her toes lightly touched the ground, almost mockingly.

She was struggling to move; some sort of invisible binds restrained her. Loki began to step forward, but the same confines stopped him as well, causing him to trip and fall to the ground. He brought his head up to look at the scene before him.

Thanos smiled, chilling Loki to his core.

Darcy looked back at Loki over her shoulder, terror in her eyes.

"_It'll be ok,_"he mouthed to her.

Darcy's neck twisted abruptly and, with a sickening crack, her body fell to the ground with a resonating finality.


	16. Chapter 16

**Hello gang.**

**So, I recieved a surprising lack of death threats, but I have this chapter to make up for that. To those who asked: no, this story is far from over. Like I said in the summary, this will go through The Avengers storyline. However, please do not fret, my lovely readers. Things are not as they seem and I have big plans that I hope you all will like. Speaking of which, I very much appreciate all the feedback I have gotten, and I always welcome anything you all have to say, angered or not. I love invoking emotion more than anything, especially when that emotion becomes vocalized.**

**Long A/N. Sorry. Thank you for reading my story and sticking it out for this chapter. I'll meet you at the end.**

* * *

_Darcy's neck twisted abruptly and, with a sickening crack, her body fell to the ground with a resonating finality._

"No!" Loki cried out, his voice cracking and in a tone he didn't recognize.

Either he was able to break free of the invisible binds on his own or Thanos let him go, because Loki was able to scramble up and to Darcy's body. He pulled her up against him. Her lifeless eyes were still open, staring out at nothing.

"Darcy, Darcy no… no, no, no," he muttered, bringing his lips close to hers but never quite touching them. His chest felt tight; his lungs weren't getting air. Everything felt raw. Numbness spread over him like a fire, yet a pressure was building in his chest and throat.

"Please, Darcy," he breathed, pressing his forehead to hers as he had so many times before. He closed his eyes tight, hoping that when he opened his eyes he'd find it was some kind of awful dream and the two of them were actually home in their bed together.

He cracked his eyelids open and only saw her eyes, unseeing and blank.

Loki most definitely had felt pain before; he still remembered what had been going through his mind as he fell and fell and fell. He remembered the feelings of isolation, of rejection, of being the receiving end of ridicule for centuries. But this— this was something new. He felt as if someone had reached inside of him and ripped something out. His entire body was in physical pain.

He felt like he was falling.

Loki shifted so that her head and upper body rested in his lap. Brushing a few strands of hair out of Darcy's face, he couldn't help thinking how beautiful she always was, even now.

He realized his breathing was quick and shallow; he was hyperventilating. Tears were streaming down his face and blocking his vision. His mind was going back and forth chanting either 'Darcy' or 'no.'

He brought his hand to the side of her head. The angle her neck was at made Loki's blood go cold just at the sight of it. Tilting her, he attempted to make the angle appear more natural. He held and moved her gently, like he was afraid he'd only break her further.

Hysteria was building in him. Loki was faintly aware of the fact that Thanos was standing nearby, watching his reaction, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

Loki wrapped his arms around her, as if he was trying to keep the life within her, though he knew it was far past already gone. He was shaking and barely able to keep his hold of her. Sobbing into her hair, he fell back on his legs and held her close to him. His arms, the only thing currently strong on or about him, locked and held her tightly. Her arms were limp at her sides.

"I love you," he murmured against her temple.

Behind him, Loki actually heard Thanos laughing. If he were in a better state, Loki would have slaughtered him right then and there. Instead, he turned to look at him.

Loki reined in his emotions enough to speak as clearly as he could. "You killed her," he stated childishly.

"No," Thanos said simply, as if he were talking to a child, "You and your refusal of my proposal killed her."

Loki didn't know how to respond to that. Instead, he just turned back to Darcy's body and held her there, crying and shaking and even rocking back and forth a little.

Thanos continued. "Your selfishness murdered her. She would have lived if you had just listened to me. It is your fault, Asgardian. You are to blame for her death."

"Stop it," Loki muttered, holding Darcy tighter. "Stop, please," he begged. He knew he shouldn't let Thanos see how much his words affected him, but it was all too much. Every part of him ached.

"You slaughtered her simply by meeting her, by being what you are. If she had never met you, she would be alive right now."

Loki didn't want to listen, but he did. The more Thanos said, the more the self-hatred and doubt in Loki's mind grew. The woman he loved was lifeless in his arms because he had honestly believed he could achieve a normal life. He thought he had deserved something like that, but clearly he didn't. He was a monster, after all. Monsters did not deserve love, and he did not deserve Darcy. But it was well past too late for that now.

"Kill me," Loki said lowly. He turned and looked at Thanos again. "Kill me, please," he said with more desperation. "Please, just end it. Make it all stop. Just kill me."

Thanos' laughter filled the air.

Loki looked down at Darcy again; his unlucky, unprotected, beautiful, quirky Darcy, so far away from her home. He put his hand on her neck and, using all of the magic he had left, felt the bones realigning under his fingers. He couldn't look at her with her neck at that angle. Then again, he could barely look at her at all. Loki was left nearly gasping for air, mentally and physically drained. He had nothing left.

Gently, as if she was made of glass, Loki brought his hand up and, with two fingers, closed her eyes. At least now she appeared to be asleep, though that weak illusion did little to relieve him. _Master of lies and tricks, _echoed through his mind, _never able to fool myself._

He wished he could hear her voice. He wished to feel her hands on him, or to listen to one of her stories, or to watch her smile when she watched one of her movies, or to argue with her about something unimportant. Then again, he wished for many things in that moment.

Loki came to a realization; feeling exactly these sentiments had led to her death. If he had not loved her, Thanos would have sent her home.

It was his fault after all.

"Can you fix her?" Loki asked quietly. When Thanos did not answer, Loki looked back at him again. He was well aware of the fact that he was shaking and still crying. He repeated, yelling, nearly screaming in his hysteria, "_Can you fix her_?" He made sure to stress each word to be sure that Thanos heard him loud and clear. "I will serve you. Do you hear that? I will do whatever you ask. Just fix her and send her home. She's just a mortal woman, barely alive to you as it was. What difference is it to you? Please, just fix her."

"I can do many things, but I cannot put life back into a being once it has left them."

Loki let his eyes slide shut. He did not want to live anymore. Half of him was tempted to attack Thanos; he had no magic and he was physically drained. Loki knew that he stood no chance and Thanos would kill him if he put up enough of a fight, therefore Loki could get out some of his anger and successfully kill himself. _Two in one._

Loki turned and jumped at Thanos, hoping that it would be quick.

It wasn't until after Loki was stopped midair and slammed straight down against the rock that he became acutely aware of another presence; another being was there, circling himself and Thanos. Loki could feel this person, for magic was radiating off of them. This being possessed far more magic than Loki had ever felt in one person, even Odin or himself.

Loki lay face down on the ground, not moving or thinking and wishing he wasn't breathing. Every breath he took pained him more than the last.

He felt guilty. Guilty that he couldn't save Darcy. Guilty that he was alive while she was not. The air around him felt tainted, but Loki realized he was the poisonous one.

"What were you hoping to accomplish there, Asgardian?" Thanos laughed, interrupting Loki's thoughts.

"Do not mock him," a female voice interjected. Thanos actually appeared to listen and took a few steps back, saying nothing.

Loki turned his head to the side to see the source of the voice, the figure with all of the magic, stepping forward. Her long, dark hair hung down her back and her dark eyes pierced him in a way that made him both cringe and only want to stare further up at her as she approached him. She was beauty and pain and death, and Loki only hoped she would give him what Thanos would not.

She reached down and put a hand on his cheek. As she touched him, an electric shock went through his body and flashes of Loki's life reeled in his mind: Odin falling to the ground in the vault, his brother and others mocking him, the look on Darcy's face as life left her, the sensation of falling.

"He has felt much. He has great capacity. He will serve." Her voice was passive and ancient and calming.

"No," Loki choked out, "I will not serve—not you, not _him_, not anyone."

The woman stood and smiled down at him. She looked simultaneously protective and lethal. "He just needs to be truly broken first. In time, he, and every world you wish to go after, will be yours. After you are done, he is mine."

* * *

_**Before**_

Darcy had felt some kind of invisible rope tighten around her. She looked back at Loki, who had fallen to the ground. She tried to give him a hopeful look and let him know she wasn't scared, but knew she failed miserably.

One second she was looking at Loki, wanting nothing more than to hold him for a very, very long time, and the next she was standing a few feet from Jane in the middle of the New Mexico desert.

"What?" Darcy said aloud.

"Darcy!" Jane moved to hug her, but Darcy pushed past her and went to the space Loki should be.

"Where is he? Why is he not here?" She looked up at the sky: clear blue, not a single cloud or portal or speck of darkness to be seen.

The portal device, still spinning and aglow, suddenly died down and turned itself off.

"What happened?" Jane asked, confusion in her voice.

Darcy sunk to her knees and then her ass.

"Some creepy dude— _Thanos_— brought us to, like, deep space. He offered Loki a job, Loki said no, and then he said he wasn't going to let us leave. And then he had me." Darcy didn't know why, but she started crying. "I thought I was going to die, Jane. But then, I just appeared here. And… and Loki's probably still there, with that guy…"

"Well, let's go after him," Jane said boldly. She turned to the device that had brought them to Thanos in the first place and turned it on once again.

Nothing happened. Not even a buzz or a spark or a fizz. Jane flipped the switch again, with the same results.

"_Really_? The entire time you were gone, I couldn't even touch it without getting zapped. It was just running itself. Now, it won't do anything." Jane flipped switches and pressed buttons as she spoke, going off about the mathematics of it and digressing from there.

As Jane continued messing with the machine and talking, Darcy held her head in her hands and fought off hysterical sobs. What if she never saw him again? No— she refused to think about that. He would get out of there and find her or she would make the technology to go and find him.

Though she attempted to comfort herself, she still felt tears coming fast. As Darcy drew in a sharp breath, Jane suddenly stopped with the portal device, dropped to her knees beside Darcy and put her arms around her.

"He'll come back," Jane said quietly, putting a hand on her friend's head. "Don't worry about him. He'll be fine. You know him. Loki can take care of himself. He'll be back soon."

Jane knew too well the pain Darcy was feeling now— almost nine months ago, Thor had come into her life and left just as suddenly. Jane longed for him every single day, hoping that today would finally be the day she'd hear her instruments going off and the sound of thunder in the distance. But that day hadn't come yet, and every day felt like it would be even longer until she saw him again. Darcy, on the other hand, had known Loki much longer and much more intimately, and though Jane would say against this as long as she lived, Darcy had no way to know if Loki was all right. By the sound of the situation Darcy had described, Loki was probably being ripped apart right now. However, Jane would continue to tell Darcy that he was all right, because that was what Darcy needed to hear.

Darcy muttered something unintelligible.

"What did you say?" Jane asked lightly.

"I said," Darcy drew back from their embrace and wiped one of her eyes, "Maybe it's a curse, humans falling in love with Asgardians. Whenever it happens, they're taken away from us."

Darcy's comment had cut deeper than Jane cared to admit. "Probably," was all Jane could manage.

* * *

Thanos stood near the edge, looking out at the great expanse of space before him. He heard approaching footsteps behind him.

"Where is he?" Thanos asked, not looking back at her.

"He is away. I have one of your servants looking after him. He is still suffering greatly. He's nearly physically ill from the pain we've caused him."

"Let him suffer. He'll beg for what he's feeling now, come tomorrow." Thanos turned to face her. She had blood dripping from her fingertips, undoubtedly the Asgardian's. She looked beautiful, he thought. "Are you all right? You performed well today, but I know you're your limits. Keeping an illusion like that for so long, especially when it was being touched and he was performing magic on it…."

"You underestimate me?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I simply understand that what you did today was impressive and must've challenged you some, if only a little. You sabotaged a portal from a different realm, held that portal open, sent the girl home, made a double of her body, and more, all within minutes or simultaneously. It is… very impressive, to say the least," Thanos said, stepping forward.

"I do not want your gratitude or interest, though I suspect I have it."

"You are a magnificent creature," Thanos said, stepping toward her again. She turned away and began pacing.

"He feels much. That's part of what makes him so valuable to me," she stated matter-of-factly. "When you try to break him, you will have to try hard. He will be difficult. He is resilient by nature, and he is a persistent being."

"What does this mean to me?" Thanos asked, watching her walk.

"Do not try to make him not love her. She is what he will hold on to, what he will cling to. Use this against him," she said. "He will always miss her. She is his weak spot."

"Let's turn that weakness into strength; use the pain to make him ruthless," Thanos said, tightening his fist.

"You cannot turn love into hatred," she said, turning to face him.

"But you can turn misery into resolve."

She did not respond to that. Instead, she began pacing again.

"When you have realms bowing before you, you will give the Asgardian to me, as we discussed," she said after a moment.

"Of course." Thanos turned to look at his mistress once more. "And what will you do with him then? You have said that you desire his soul, but what exactly that includes, you have yet to share."

She did not respond.

"Death," he said, hoping her name would catch her attention and make her answer him.

She looked up at him and unblinkingly stared. "When you are done, when you have had him lead armies against his own people, all three of his home worlds and the realm the girl is from, I will take what I want from him until there is nothing left. I will kill him."


	17. Chapter 17

**I am extremely sorry for how long it took to get this out. I've had lots of surprises lately, but I think I'm now done for the rest of summer. So, more stuff coming soon. Thank you for your patience :D **

* * *

Darcy didn't go into work the day after the event. She hadn't seen a point. She hadn't gone in the day after that, or any day that week.

Jane had decided that since the portal device was useless without Loki and his magic to fuel it, everything should go to someone who could use it or learn from it. Doctor Selvig was starting with SHIELD soon, so Jane had packed up what they had made and sent it off.

The months Darcy and Loki had been together had flown by in a blissful haze. Days had seemed like hours and before they had known it, they'd been sleeping together and maybe possibly in love for over three months.

Darcy felt unclear of that now. They certainly had declared their love to each other enough, but she was starting to wonder how much he had meant. Time pulled out the doubt in her.

Nowadays, everything was sharp and loud and time dragged by, yet still moved too fast. Darcy noticed one night as she lay in bed that it had been over a month since Loki was gone, but she simultaneously felt like he had just been there and that it had been years since seeing him.

She physically ached for him. A dull ever-present pain throbbed trough her. Darcy woke up in the middle of the night almost every night. It wasn't that she had nightmares; she was simply restless. She actually wished for the nightmares she had had back when she and Loki were just friends; at least then she'd see his face.

She felt something now that she hadn't since the first time they had dreamed of each other: isolation. Loki and Darcy hadn't really been dreaming _of _each other very often, but there was always the definite presence that she had grown accustomed to and found solace in, and now it was completely gone. She was jealous of Jane; she could escape her loneliness in sleep. Darcy was reminded of him even there.

Sleeping in his bed helped. Sometimes, if Darcy tried hard enough, she could pretend he had gone into the other room for something and would be back any moment, smiling at her and about to make some snarky comment. But he would never come. She missed hearing his voice, whether it was small talk over a meal, calculations for Jane's machines, or lovingly saying her name; she was desperate to hear his voice.

She felt cold. She was used to sleeping with Loki pressed against her back and wrapped around her. She had tried sleeping with pillows against her for a similar feeling, but had no luck. Nothing was the same.

The thing that bothered Darcy most was the uncertainty. She liked to think that she'd be able to feel it if Loki was dead, but in reality she had no idea. Thanos had wanted him for some kind of job, but if Loki still refused to do it, what would happen to him then?

Darcy rolled over, trying to get to sleep. Right now she wanted nothing more than Loki's arms around her and his lips pressed to the back of her head as he hummed away her crippling fear and heartache. She wanted him to tell her that he was all right, that she had nothing to be afraid over.

Darcy rolled over again and looked at one of his shirts, hanging over a chair where he had left it one day. Thinking back over everything, she realized all of the pain was worth the time they had spent together. What she had had with him was worth it all.

* * *

"Scream all you want, Asgardian."

_Crack._

"We are beyond the Nine Realms; even your great Heimdall cannot hear or see you out here!"

_Crack._

"You may call to them, but no one will be coming for you."

It was a little over twenty-four hours now, Loki thought. A follower Loki had heard referenced as 'The Other' was dealing out the physical torments as Thanos himself would simply circle them, watching, narrating why he was receiving such agony and further taunting Loki.

When it had first started, Loki had tried to hold himself together. The screaming had been the first drawn out of him, and now he was reduced to crying, screaming, and begging.

"The humans despise you until they accept the mask you put up. They are incapable of compassion toward you unless you _lie_ to them. You think that just because you were able to deceive the one mortal woman into accepting your true form, they will all be that open-minded? Humans are weak, _pathetic. _Made to be ruled." Thanos paused as Loki cried out again. "You seduced one into thinking you were a good man. The only way _all_ could love you would be if you _conquered_ them. You were born a king, Laufeyson."

Loki pushed out all he had heard as he slipped into unconsciousness yet again.

* * *

Thanos stood by himself, looking out at the ship that housed the leviathans and a great portion of the Chitauri army.

The Other approached him.

"Sir," he said, as if to alert him of his arrival. "You requested to see me?"

"What did I say to you, before you were assigned the Asgardian?" Thanos asked slowly.

"I'm sorry, sir?"

"I gave you very specific instructions. Don't attempt to make him hate the woman. It is futile. She was made a martyr, a victim in all of this. He knows this. Make him blame himself, his brother, and his father." Thanos turned to look at The Other, who dropped to his knees. "I have seen into his mind; there are a few people he could never truly hate, mostly women. His mother, the woman that was here, even his brother's woman— all of them he would never blame for his strife. Instead, play them as the victims and he the monster. When I arrived early today to speak with him, I heard you speaking of her." The Other flinched. "Only tell him what I allow. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir."

"Excellent." Thanos turned away again. "Now go wake him."


	18. Chapter 18

***Maniacal laughing in the distance*******

**TW: blood, to be safe**

* * *

Darcy was in her bed, trying to fall asleep. The sound of rare New Mexico rain beat against the roof, both distracting and lulling her. She turned her head to check the time, sighing when she saw that her meeting with Jane was only a few hours away.

It'd been two months now. Darcy still got out of the house most days and helped out with Jane, but some days were worse than others. She had a feeling that today was going to be a bad day for her.

A hand touched her side, and then she felt an arm slip around her and someone press up against her back. The feeling was familiar; the arm around her was something she knew all too well.

"Loki," Darcy gasped, trying to turn to see him.

"Be still, Darcy. Do not worry about me," Loki's voice said. She felt lips press against the back of her head. "Ok?"

"You're all right," she said, putting her hand on the one holding her.

"And so are you," he said. "I am safe where I am. But I will not likely see you again."

"What?" Darcy tried to turn again, but his arm around her kept her still.

"This is goodbye, Darcy."

"No," she said, her voice escalating. She tried to twist in his grasp but the sensation of him faded away. She looked behind her and the bed was empty.

* * *

Darcy felt conflicted.

Pacing around the apartment, she attempted to sort through her thoughts. She knew, for the most part, that that wasn't Loki. It couldn't have been. She knew that she had meant more to him than that. This had to be some kind of trick, probably by the people that had captured him.

However, a part of her now felt the doubt creeping in. What if that was Loki and he really had given her up that easily? What if he was over her, just like that, and she meant no more to him than the other lowly mortals on the planet he had been stuck on?

Darcy wasn't sure which option she preferred.

* * *

Thanos stood at the meeting spot, a few yards from where Loki was being kept unconscious. A flicker of electricity in the air and a sudden, piercing _crack_ signaled Death's return.

She held the perfect image of the Asgardian, except the eyes kept flickering between the actual green and a blackness that took over the entire eye. She was naked, in Loki's form, as a result of her travelling between realms. Though she could do it, she could bring nothing with her and it took its toll.

The body shifted until Death stood before him, dressed in her usual dark gown.

"How did it go?" he asked.

"She believed it was him, though she did not accept what was said."

"Naturally," Thanos deadpanned. "Was it enough to disconnect her from him?"

"I have warned you about this. Do not test their love for each other. Whatever is put against it will fail."

"If she thinks he does not love her, then she will eventually stop. Once he knows she doesn't feel for him anymore, he will take over her race without hesitation."

"I am telling you, do not challenge this," she said stoically.

"Are you not powerful enough to sway one mortal?"

Death's face remained blank. "If you do not learn to be patient, Mad God, you will lose everything."

"Do not say that to me!" he screamed, darkening the air around them. When she did nothing but stare expressionlessly at him, he calmed himself. This conversation was futile, so he shifted it. "When will you be placing this curse of yours?" he asked blankly.

"Now, if you wish." Her face was grave and distant.

He glanced over to where the Asgardian was being kept. "Do it."

* * *

Thanos paced around them like a hunter circling prey. Death knelt beside Loki, pushing him so that he now lay on his back. She drew a knife from a hidden sheath.

Taking his hand and pulling his arm up, she cut a thin line from above his wrist to the crook of his arm. Even with this injury, he did not stir from his pain-induced blackout.

His blood pooled around him, staining his clothes and skin. Death began chanting lowly, her head tilted down so that her black hair nearly covered all of her pale face.

"What are you doing to him?" Thanos asked once the chanting stopped, but Death ignored him and continued with her process.

She pulled a small vial from some hidden place, more blood within it. She poured it onto the ground so that it mixed with the Asgardian. The chanting began again, and Thanos waited.

After a few minutes, Death stood.

"Well?" he asked.

"When he and the girl are apart, he will never die unless by my hands. When they are together, he will be mortal."

"No!" Thanos yelled, stepping forward. "He is mine! I claimed him as mine!"

"And you can have him," Death assured. "I spoke but you did not hear; when they are together, he will be mortal. Unless he stays away from the girl, which he will most likely not be able to do, you'll be able to kill him as easy as flicking your wrist."

"So it'll be his choice," Thanos said, glancing down at the nearly dead would-be prince. "He will be miserable and alone, or he will die in front of her."

"Precisely," she said, moving to kneel beside him again. "My children will hunt him, haunt him, until I finally take him no matter which choice he makes. This kind of curse brings him exceptionally close to the veil; though my daughters will hunt him, I will forbid them from ever taking him. That is an honor you and I will share. I will be the one to reap him no matter what." She put her hand to his face, almost caressing him as a lover would. "He will die for love or without it completely."

"How does this affect the trip to Midgard you took today?" Thanos asked, watching her with curiosity.

"Though I do oppose what was done today with the girl, the situation is not greatly damaged. The more he feels, the more useful he is to me."

"Of course. Your mysterious plan to consume his soul." Thanos scoffed. Death glanced over at him.

"You still honor our agreement?" she asked, looking at him.

"Of course." Thanos crossed his arms. "Do we tell him of the curse when he wakes? Let it burden him?"

"No. He still thinks he is to die here. Keep that hopelessness in him for now. Besides, when he returns to Midgard and ultimately to her, he will feel it. Her presence will weaken him. He will simply have the strength of a man, not a god, and he will have no magical abilities."

Thanos paused for a moment, reveling in the plan. "He will lead an army against Midgard's greatest city, fail in his attempts, and be taken prisoner of their justice. I will have an idea of Midgard's defenses in an alien attack and our way into Asgard. And you? One being's soul, in exchange for everything you have done."

Death smiled and looked back down at Loki. Her hand was still on his cheek. "He is important."

"We will tell no one of this plan. As far as The Other and the Chitauri generals know, the Asgardian is meant to win Midgard and rule it."

"As you wish," Death said, not looking at him. She was staring at Loki, holding his face in her hand, entranced by some small detail on his face. Thanos had little care for whatever held her attention.

As he walked away, he thought he heard Death laughing.


End file.
